Organization's Seminar (2015-04)

Topic: What It Takes to Get Proactive: An Integrative Multi-Level Model of the Antecedents of Personal Initiative

Speaker: Hui Liao,University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

Time: Thursday, 8 June, 10:00-11:30 AM

Location: Room K01, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract:

Building upon and extending the theory of proactive motivation, we develop an integrated, multi-level model to examine how contextual factors shape employees’ proactive motivational states and, through these proactive motivational states, influence their personal initiative behavior. Using data from a sample of hotels collected from three sources and over two time periods, we show that establishment-level initiative-enhancing human resource management (HRM) systems were positively related to departmental initiative climate, which was positively related to employee personal initiative through employee role-breadth self-efficacy. Further, department-level empowering leadership was positively related to initiative climate only when initiative-enhancing HRM systems were low. These findings offer interesting implications for research on personal initiative and for the management of employee proactivity in organizations.

Bio of Speaker:

Hui Liao is the endowed, Smith Dean’s Professor in Leadership and Management in the Department of Management and Organization at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. Professor Liao currently is a Qianren Scholar of China and a Visiting Chair Professor at the Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management. Professor Liao received her B. A. in International Economics from the Renmin University of China, and Ph.D. with concentrations in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. Her research interests include leadership, service quality, organizational justice, strategic human resource management, and workforce diversity and inclusion. She has conducted field research, executive education, and consulting in various cultural settings involving both small business and multinational companies’ worldwide operations. Professor Liao's work has appeared in the field’s top journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organization Science, and Personnel Psychology. Professor Liao has been honored with the "Cummings Scholarly Achievement Award" from the Academy of Management (AOM)'s Organizational Behavior Division, "Scholarly Achievement Award" from AOM's Human Resources Division, “Distinguished Early Career Contributions Award” from the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, the “Early Career Achievement Award” from AOM’s Human Resources Division, and the “Dorothy Harlow Distinguished Paper Award” from AOM’s Gender and Diversity Division. In addition, two of the doctoral students’ papers that Professor Liao advised and coauthored won the Best Doctoral Student Paper Award from the AOM’s OB Division. Professor Liao served as an Action Editor for Personnel Psychology, and currently serves as an Action Editor forOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. In addition, Professor Liao serves on the Business Studies Panel of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. Professor Liao teaches topics such as Leadership Development, Leadership and Human Capital, Cross-cultural Communication and Teamwork, Strategic Human Resource Management, and Decision Making at MBA, EMBA/Executive Education, and PhD levels, and serves as an executive coach.

Your participation is warmly welcomed!