Markus Baer | Washington University in St. Louis (original) (raw)
Papers by Markus Baer
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2023
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2020
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Applied Psychology, Nov 1, 2015
Territorial marking allows people to communicate that a territory has been claimed. Across 2 stud... more Territorial marking allows people to communicate that a territory has been claimed. Across 2 studies, we examine the impact of territorial marking of one's ideas on others' invited creativity when asked to provide feedback. Integrating research on territoriality and self-construal, we examine the effect of control-oriented marking on invited creativity (Study 1), and the extent to which an independent versus interdependent self-construal moderates this effect (Study 2). Results of Study 1 demonstrate that the use of control-oriented marking to communicate a territorial claim over one's ideas inhibits invited creativity, and this effect is mediated by intrinsic motivation. Also consistent with our hypotheses, the results of Study 2 show that self-construal moderates the effect of control-oriented marking on others' intrinsic motivation and creativity. Marking diminishes invited creativity among people with an independent self-construal but serves to enhance the creativity of those with an interdependent self-construal. Consistent with Study 1, intrinsic motivation mediates this moderated effect. Our results highlight the important but heretofore understudied role of territoriality in affecting others' creativity as well as the role of independent versus interdependent self-construal in shaping this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record
Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2018
Problem solving is "a search through a vast maze of possibilities" but also a key mechanism to ex... more Problem solving is "a search through a vast maze of possibilities" but also a key mechanism to explain superior value creation of organizations, entrepreneurs, and innovations. Problem formulation provides the base for understanding the problem. Problem formulation addresses the identification of the 'right' problem, and how to capture the problem characteristics to find superior solutions. Yet our understanding is limited. This symposium brings together leading experts and recognized authors in the field to shed light on the topic, stimulate research, foster community interaction, improve problem solving progress and thus improve our lives.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2010
Disentangling the effects of weak ties on creativity, the present study separated, both theoretic... more Disentangling the effects of weak ties on creativity, the present study separated, both theoretically and empirically, the effects of the size and strength of actors' idea networks and examined their joint impact while simultaneously considering the separate, moderating role of network diversity. I hypothesized that idea networks of optimal size and weak strength were more likely to boost creativity when they afforded actors access to a wide range of different social circles. In addition, I examined whether the joint effects of network size, strength, and diversity on creativity were further qualified by the openness to experience personality dimension. As expected, results indicated that actors were most creative when they maintained idea networks of optimal size, weak strength, and high diversity and when they scored high on the openness dimension. The implications of these results are discussed.
Academy of Management Journal, Oct 1, 2012
Proceedings - Academy of Management, Jul 1, 2012
This review outlines a criterion-oriented framework for understanding workplace creativity. Drawi... more This review outlines a criterion-oriented framework for understanding workplace creativity. Drawing from research on job performance, we make three important conceptual distinctions. First, we add ...
Journal of Product Innovation Management, Apr 9, 2022
Despite the clear relevance of stressors for the creative work performed by individuals, how they... more Despite the clear relevance of stressors for the creative work performed by individuals, how they affect teams in their ability to innovate is poorly understood. Thus, the question as to what kind of, and by which mechanisms, team stressors may give rise to better innovation team performance needs further consideration. We address this issue by applying the challenge–hindrance stressor framework to the team level of analysis in the context of innovation teams. By integrating insights from social identity theory and the attentional focus model, we highlight the importance of identity‐ and information‐based mechanisms in transmitting the differential effects of challenge and hindrance team stressors on the performance of innovation teams. We test our arguments for two of the most prominent indicators of innovation team performance (i.e., team creativity and team efficiency) in a multi‐informant sample of team members, team‐internal leaders, and team‐external managers from 114 innovation teams. Our findings support the opposing effects of challenge and hindrance team stressors in predicting innovation team performance through the two differential mechanisms. Specifically, for team efficiency, both team stressors come with the cost of team task conflict (i.e., the information‐based mechanism). However, whereas challenge team stressors enhance collective team identification (i.e., the identity‐based mechanism), hindrance team stressors undermine collective team identification, thereby aggravating their already negative effect on team efficiency. In terms of team creativity, our results suggest that both types of team stressors exert their indirect effects solely via the identity‐based mechanism. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Author Note. Order of authorship is alphabetical. The authors wish to thank Nick Argyres,
Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2022
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2014
We aim to bring together leading scholars in the area of organizational social network research t... more We aim to bring together leading scholars in the area of organizational social network research to discuss the state of the literature and map the frontiers of work linking personality and networks in organizations. Prior work has highlighted the invaluable role that networks play in organizational life—we know that the structure of network ties surrounding ego influences creativity, performance evaluations, promotions and strategic influence. Yet how the characteristics of people in the network influence the structures that constrain or facilitate individual action remains largely uncharted territory, despite key advances in methods, theory and empirical research. Our proposed panel symposium stands to enrich the scholarly discussion in this area by (a) briefly reviewing what we know about personality and social networks, (b) challenging key conclusions via vigorous debate and (c) probing the frontiers of knowledge by asking, “What do we want to know that current theory and evidence cannot address?” Thes...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012
Two experimental studies demonstrated that feeling as though an object, such as an idea, is ''our... more Two experimental studies demonstrated that feeling as though an object, such as an idea, is ''ours'' (i.e., experiencing feelings of psychological ownership) propels people to selectively adopt others' suggestions for change. Whereas feelings of ownership caused individuals to embrace the adoption of suggestions that expanded upon their possessions (additive change), it simultaneously made them shun the adoption of suggestions that shrank them (subtractive change) (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, results indicated that both a sense of personal loss and negative affect sequentially mediated this joint effect of psychological ownership and change type on the adoption of others' suggestions for change (Study 2). Our findings suggest that the nature of change and how it impacts high ownership people's sense of loss and negative affect is an important determinant of whether feelings of ownership will cause individuals to remain open to or resist others' suggestions for change.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2014
Non-sedentary work configurations, which encourage standing rather than sitting in the course of ... more Non-sedentary work configurations, which encourage standing rather than sitting in the course of work, are becoming increasingly prevalent in organizations. In this article, we build and test theory about how non-sedentary arrangements influence interpersonal processes in groups performing knowledge work—tasks that require groups to combine information to develop creative ideas and solve problems. We propose that a non-sedentary workspace increases group arousal, while at the same time decreasing group idea territoriality, both of which result in better information elaboration and, indirectly, better group performance. The results of an experimental study of 54 groups engaged in a creative task provide support for this dual pathway model and underscore the important role of the physical space in which a group works as a contextual input to group processes and outcomes.
This paper contributes to the discussion on contingencies of process innovations by focusing on a... more This paper contributes to the discussion on contingencies of process innovations by focusing on and introducing organizational-level constructs of climate for initiative and psychological safety. We argue that process innovations, defined as deliberate and new organizational attempts to change production and service processes, need to be accompanied by climates that complement the adoption and implementation of such innovations. Our study of 47 mid-sized German companies examines the relation between process innovations, climates for initiative and psychological safety, and firm performance. Results show that climates for initiative and psychological safety were positively related to two measures of firm performance – longitudinal change in return on assets (holding prior return on assets constant) and firm goal achievement – and moderated the relation between process innovations and firm performance. Innovation not enough 3 Introduction “Innovation has become the industrial religio...
Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2020
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2023
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2020
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Applied Psychology, Nov 1, 2015
Territorial marking allows people to communicate that a territory has been claimed. Across 2 stud... more Territorial marking allows people to communicate that a territory has been claimed. Across 2 studies, we examine the impact of territorial marking of one's ideas on others' invited creativity when asked to provide feedback. Integrating research on territoriality and self-construal, we examine the effect of control-oriented marking on invited creativity (Study 1), and the extent to which an independent versus interdependent self-construal moderates this effect (Study 2). Results of Study 1 demonstrate that the use of control-oriented marking to communicate a territorial claim over one's ideas inhibits invited creativity, and this effect is mediated by intrinsic motivation. Also consistent with our hypotheses, the results of Study 2 show that self-construal moderates the effect of control-oriented marking on others' intrinsic motivation and creativity. Marking diminishes invited creativity among people with an independent self-construal but serves to enhance the creativity of those with an interdependent self-construal. Consistent with Study 1, intrinsic motivation mediates this moderated effect. Our results highlight the important but heretofore understudied role of territoriality in affecting others' creativity as well as the role of independent versus interdependent self-construal in shaping this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record
Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2018
Problem solving is "a search through a vast maze of possibilities" but also a key mechanism to ex... more Problem solving is "a search through a vast maze of possibilities" but also a key mechanism to explain superior value creation of organizations, entrepreneurs, and innovations. Problem formulation provides the base for understanding the problem. Problem formulation addresses the identification of the 'right' problem, and how to capture the problem characteristics to find superior solutions. Yet our understanding is limited. This symposium brings together leading experts and recognized authors in the field to shed light on the topic, stimulate research, foster community interaction, improve problem solving progress and thus improve our lives.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2010
Disentangling the effects of weak ties on creativity, the present study separated, both theoretic... more Disentangling the effects of weak ties on creativity, the present study separated, both theoretically and empirically, the effects of the size and strength of actors' idea networks and examined their joint impact while simultaneously considering the separate, moderating role of network diversity. I hypothesized that idea networks of optimal size and weak strength were more likely to boost creativity when they afforded actors access to a wide range of different social circles. In addition, I examined whether the joint effects of network size, strength, and diversity on creativity were further qualified by the openness to experience personality dimension. As expected, results indicated that actors were most creative when they maintained idea networks of optimal size, weak strength, and high diversity and when they scored high on the openness dimension. The implications of these results are discussed.
Academy of Management Journal, Oct 1, 2012
Proceedings - Academy of Management, Jul 1, 2012
This review outlines a criterion-oriented framework for understanding workplace creativity. Drawi... more This review outlines a criterion-oriented framework for understanding workplace creativity. Drawing from research on job performance, we make three important conceptual distinctions. First, we add ...
Journal of Product Innovation Management, Apr 9, 2022
Despite the clear relevance of stressors for the creative work performed by individuals, how they... more Despite the clear relevance of stressors for the creative work performed by individuals, how they affect teams in their ability to innovate is poorly understood. Thus, the question as to what kind of, and by which mechanisms, team stressors may give rise to better innovation team performance needs further consideration. We address this issue by applying the challenge–hindrance stressor framework to the team level of analysis in the context of innovation teams. By integrating insights from social identity theory and the attentional focus model, we highlight the importance of identity‐ and information‐based mechanisms in transmitting the differential effects of challenge and hindrance team stressors on the performance of innovation teams. We test our arguments for two of the most prominent indicators of innovation team performance (i.e., team creativity and team efficiency) in a multi‐informant sample of team members, team‐internal leaders, and team‐external managers from 114 innovation teams. Our findings support the opposing effects of challenge and hindrance team stressors in predicting innovation team performance through the two differential mechanisms. Specifically, for team efficiency, both team stressors come with the cost of team task conflict (i.e., the information‐based mechanism). However, whereas challenge team stressors enhance collective team identification (i.e., the identity‐based mechanism), hindrance team stressors undermine collective team identification, thereby aggravating their already negative effect on team efficiency. In terms of team creativity, our results suggest that both types of team stressors exert their indirect effects solely via the identity‐based mechanism. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Author Note. Order of authorship is alphabetical. The authors wish to thank Nick Argyres,
Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2022
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2014
We aim to bring together leading scholars in the area of organizational social network research t... more We aim to bring together leading scholars in the area of organizational social network research to discuss the state of the literature and map the frontiers of work linking personality and networks in organizations. Prior work has highlighted the invaluable role that networks play in organizational life—we know that the structure of network ties surrounding ego influences creativity, performance evaluations, promotions and strategic influence. Yet how the characteristics of people in the network influence the structures that constrain or facilitate individual action remains largely uncharted territory, despite key advances in methods, theory and empirical research. Our proposed panel symposium stands to enrich the scholarly discussion in this area by (a) briefly reviewing what we know about personality and social networks, (b) challenging key conclusions via vigorous debate and (c) probing the frontiers of knowledge by asking, “What do we want to know that current theory and evidence cannot address?” Thes...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012
Two experimental studies demonstrated that feeling as though an object, such as an idea, is ''our... more Two experimental studies demonstrated that feeling as though an object, such as an idea, is ''ours'' (i.e., experiencing feelings of psychological ownership) propels people to selectively adopt others' suggestions for change. Whereas feelings of ownership caused individuals to embrace the adoption of suggestions that expanded upon their possessions (additive change), it simultaneously made them shun the adoption of suggestions that shrank them (subtractive change) (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, results indicated that both a sense of personal loss and negative affect sequentially mediated this joint effect of psychological ownership and change type on the adoption of others' suggestions for change (Study 2). Our findings suggest that the nature of change and how it impacts high ownership people's sense of loss and negative affect is an important determinant of whether feelings of ownership will cause individuals to remain open to or resist others' suggestions for change.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2014
Non-sedentary work configurations, which encourage standing rather than sitting in the course of ... more Non-sedentary work configurations, which encourage standing rather than sitting in the course of work, are becoming increasingly prevalent in organizations. In this article, we build and test theory about how non-sedentary arrangements influence interpersonal processes in groups performing knowledge work—tasks that require groups to combine information to develop creative ideas and solve problems. We propose that a non-sedentary workspace increases group arousal, while at the same time decreasing group idea territoriality, both of which result in better information elaboration and, indirectly, better group performance. The results of an experimental study of 54 groups engaged in a creative task provide support for this dual pathway model and underscore the important role of the physical space in which a group works as a contextual input to group processes and outcomes.
This paper contributes to the discussion on contingencies of process innovations by focusing on a... more This paper contributes to the discussion on contingencies of process innovations by focusing on and introducing organizational-level constructs of climate for initiative and psychological safety. We argue that process innovations, defined as deliberate and new organizational attempts to change production and service processes, need to be accompanied by climates that complement the adoption and implementation of such innovations. Our study of 47 mid-sized German companies examines the relation between process innovations, climates for initiative and psychological safety, and firm performance. Results show that climates for initiative and psychological safety were positively related to two measures of firm performance – longitudinal change in return on assets (holding prior return on assets constant) and firm goal achievement – and moderated the relation between process innovations and firm performance. Innovation not enough 3 Introduction “Innovation has become the industrial religio...
Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2020
By its nature, the human mind is apt to wander. While mind wandering poses risks in work settings... more By its nature, the human mind is apt to wander. While mind wandering poses risks in work settings, it may also prove beneficial in ways organizational scholars have not yet conceived. Taking hold of this possibility, we examine an understudied aspect of mind wandering in the workplace: its imaginative processes – i.e., daydreaming. We hypothesize that insofar as one’s daydreams are germane to one’s work problems (“problem-solving daydreams”), daydreaming facilitates creativity and performance in the workplace. By contrast, we hypothesize that “bizarre-improbable” daydreams compromise creativity and performance. We hypothesize further that one’s daydreams are likely to concern work-related problems when one is highly identified with one’s profession. Finally, in accounting for what leads people to engage in daydreaming, we hypothesize that daydreaming is related to work challenge stressors. Through the survey research study reported here, we provide support for these hypotheses and discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.