Words Don’t Work

Paul S. Goodman

Carnegie Mellon University

– Why do we rely on language to understand individual, group, and organizational behavior?

Basic Question . . .

– Can we change how we approach the research process?

• Presenting our research• Doing our research

Basic Outcome . . .

• Agenda– Background– Research process

• Specify task – nature of work• Specify context• Specify concepts• Design• Measurement

• Background– Researcher

• Group performance models• Organizational errors• Organizational linkages

– Filmmaker• Fun• Educational Videos• Documentaries

• Specify the nature of work– Central issue in individual, group

organizational research:• Some word examples• A visual example• Implications and action

• Specify context– What does context mean? Why

do we care?• Some approaches to understanding context• Some word examples• A visual example• Implications and action

• Specify concepts:– Complex concepts: culture,

absorption uncertainty, tacit-explicit

• Some word examples• A visual example• Implications and action

• Alternative designs– Modal designs

• Experimental X Y• Correlational X Y

– Inherent Problems• Representing real time – OB• Visual examples lab/field• Implications and action

Transcript29 Liquor 11 1 QP So what you are saying is you prefer to hire your own employees

and train them?

30 Liquor 11 1 QR That is important to you?

31 Florist 12 1 IR Yes

32 Liquor 13 1 QR Mr. Parducci, what about you?

33 Grocer 14 1 IR The position of the shops is in the market is a big deal to me, the division of the space, especially close to the entrance and exit

34 Grocer 14 1 SF For us we are selling large numbers of prepackaged goods.

35 Grocer 14 1 SB People will be coming out with big bags of items out of our store, so we wouldn’t want them to have to traverse the whole mall to be able to get out.

36 Grocer 14 1 IP So we would argue for a position close to the door.

37 Liquor 15 1 QM Are you a grocer or a supermarket?

38 Grocer 16 1 SF We are a grocer.

39 Grocer 16 1 SF We are in the Towers.

40 Grocer 16 1 SF A lot of people will be doing a lot of their primary shopping there.

41 Grocer 16 1 SF They will use the entire market a a supermarket.

42 Grocer 16 1 SF It’s just that we will be divided into four separate areas.

• Measurement– Modal measurements– Some alternatives– Implications and action

• Implications – Individual Research:– Richer verbal descriptions –

work, context– Simple visual representation– More complex visual

representation– Other forms: sound, animation– Alternative designs– Different measurement methods

• Institutional Implications– Institutional rewards– Institutional mechanisms