Each month, we select up to ten publications from those that have recently been entered into the Literature Database.

A year ago, there were approximately 7,200 citations in the Literature Database. As of March 2007, we now have over 8,450 citations.

Direct link to the Sloan Literature Update articles in the Literature Database.

Bookmark a direct link to the Literature Database.

Coutu, D.L. (2002). How resilience works. Harvard Business Review, 80(5), 46-55.
The author explores the trait of resilience in both people and organizations to find out why certain individuals are able to carry on despite facing hardships or setbacks. The quality of resilience is represented by three characteristics: an acceptance of reality, a belief in life’s meaningfulness, and the ability to improvise and use the tools at hand, regardless of what they may be. These three components must exist together to form resiliency. Examples of resilient individuals and corporations and their uses of the three components are included.

Hamel, G. & Välikangas, L. (2003). The quest for resilience. Harvard Business Review, 81(9), 52-63.
As business models change, companies are no longer able to rely on momentum to keep them going. Constant change and innovation is necessary in order to continue successfully, and in order to execute these changes, organizations need resilience, defined here as “the ability to dynamically reinvent business models and strategies as circumstances change.” Recommendations include conquering denial and constantly considering how changes will affect the organization’s success, practicing broad-based, small scale innovation to minimize risk and maximize potential, put less money and time into “legacy strategies” and earmark percentages for the development of new and innovative possibilities, and devoting as much or more time to renewal as optimization and efficiency.

Lengnick-Hall, C.A. & Beck, T.E. (2005). Adaptive fit versus robust transformation: How organizations respond to environmental change. Journal of Management, 31(5), 738-757.
The authors examine organizational uncertainty and environmental change and the traditional research that has been conducted on this topic. Most approaches suggest adaptive fit, allowing the company to regain equilibrium and move forward. In this paper, the authors explore the alternative —“robust transformation”— which is defined as “a deliberately transient, episodic response to a new, yet fluid, environmental condition.” Adopting this strategy allows businesses to thrive in the midst of constant change, a necessary component of any modern successful organization. The components of resilience capacity are discussed.

Luthans, F., Avey, J.B., Avolio, B.J., Norman, S.M. & Combs, G.M. (2006). Psychological capital development: Toward a micro-intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(3), 387-393.

This article discusses psychological capital, or PsyCap, which is a construct comprised of confidence/efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency working together. The presence of PsyCap has been shown to predict performance and satisfaction. The authors have created a short training session intended to develop PsyCap in individuals. Preliminary results and the potential financial impact of PsyCap interventions are explained.

Maddi, S.R. & Khoshaba, D.M. (2005). Resilience at work: How to succeed no matter what life throws at you. New York: AMACOM.
Table of Contents: Resilience in the face of change -- Researching stress and resiliency -- How hardiness promotes resiliency -- You can learn to be resilient  -- Do you have the right attitudes to thrive in adversity? -- Practicing your attitudes of commitment, control, and change -- Transformational coping: Turning stressful changes to your advantage -- Practicing transformational coping -- Social support: Giving and receiving assistance and encouragement -- Practicing socially supporting interactions -- Strengthening employee and employer ties -- How companies can boost resilience in their workers and in themselves.

Global Perspectives - Noblet, A. & LaMontagne, A.D. (2006) The role of workplace health promotion in addressing job stress.  Health Promotion International, 21(4), 346-353.

This concise review article provides an overview of two different occupation stress intervention approaches from an Australian perspective. The authors argue that due to high human and economic costs of occupational stress, strategies for preventing and reducing employee stress should be a high priority for workplace health promotion programmes. The paper firstly examines the effectiveness of individually oriented stress management programmes and considers three main criticisms of the individual-level approach. In the second part of the article, the authors present a detailed description of the second approach of settings-based intervention, which they contend is more comprehensive and more likely to lead to long-term positive outcomes. The framework of the settings-based approach comprises three levels of interventions, focusing on the individual employee (e.g. stress management training), the organization (e.g. work schedule redesign to allow employees to accommodate non-work commitments), and the interface between the individual and the organization (e.g. employee involvement in decision-making). Throughout the paper, the authors refer to a case study of an Australian telecom company to illustrate how the settings approach to health promotion results in more effective and sustainable positive outcomes in comparison to the individual approach. Annotated by Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, Doctoral Researcher, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.

Global Perspectives - Reinmoeller, P. & van Baardwick, N. (2005). The link between diversity and resilience. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(4), 61-65.

This paper details the authors’ research on the relationship between “innovation strategies and sustained superior performance through resilience.” They performed an analysis of 231 Dutch companies listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and compiled a top ten list based on superior performance over their corporate peers. The building of two longitudinal databases measured the levels of innovation both in actual strategic initiatives and in statements of CEOs and executives about these initiatives in interviews and articles. Innovative strategies are grouped into four categories—exploration, entrepreneurship, knowledge management, and cooperation. The relationship between the use of all four strategies and the production of innovation is confirmed.

Waite, P.J. & Richardson. G.E. (2004). Determining the efficacy of resiliency training in the work site. Journal of Allied Health, 33(3), 178-183.

This study rates the efficacy of a resiliency training program by determining the effect of the program on workers’ innate resilience, various resilient qualities such as self-esteem and purpose in life, and job satisfaction. Twelve work units from a large governmental organization in Utah were selected for the study; six units participated in a resilience program once a week for seven hours over five weeks, while six received no training. After going through the training program, the workers experienced positive changes in all variables but job satisfaction. The training did not stimulate job satisfaction, but it appeared to serve as a buffer against decreased job satisfaction. Implications and suggestions for future study are included.

Global Perspectives - Lippe, T.V. & Peters, P. (2007). Competing claims in work and family life. Cheltenham [U.K.]: E. Elgar.

Table of contents: Finding time / Tanja van der lippe & Pascale Peters -- Trends in time use and time pressure -- Time pressure and quality of life / Manfred Garhammer -- More work for mothers?: Trends and gender differences in multitasking / Liana Sayer -- Odd working hours and time pressure / Koen Breedveld -- Under pressure : time and time pressure in Flanders / Maarten Moens -- Workplace and household related causes -- Trading off or having it all?: Workers' preferences for work and family time / Judith Treas & Christin Hilgeman -- Employees' preferences for longer or shorter working hours / Kea Tijdens -- The puzzle of unpaid overtime : can the time greediness of post-Fordist work be explained? / Patricia van Echtelt, Arie Glebbeek, Rudi Wielers and Siegwart Lindenberg -- Working time, client time and family time : accounting for time in the accountancy profession / Suzan Lewis -- Labour supply : the effects of employer demands and household governance / Philip Wotschack, Jacques Siegers, Babette Pouwels & Rafael Wittek -- Organizational and household solutions to time pressure -- Trading time and money : work and household effects on employee participation and leave choices in a flexible benefit plan / Carlien Hillebrink, Joop Schippers, Pascale Peters & Anneke van Doorne-Huiskes -- Household outsourcing : a transaction cost approach / Esther de Ruijter & Tanja van der Lippe -- Time competition in home-based telework : a theoretical framework / Peter Standen -- Access to home-based telework : a multi-level and multi-actor perspective / Pascale Peters & Tanja van der Lippe -- Does telecommuting really save commute time? time, distance and speed evidence from State of California workers / David Ory and Patricia Mokhtarian.

Global Perspectives - Dobbs, L. (2007). Stuck in the slow lane: Reconceptualizing the links between gender, transport and employment. Gender, Work and Organization, 14(2), 85-108.

This article clarifies the links between poor transportation and social exclusion. The author sent questionnaires to 36,000 women aged 16 to 59 in the North East section of England; 2,904 returned them. This quantitative data was complemented by 35 focus groups of 383 women from across this region. Findings indicate that access to travel and transport allows women to participate in a wide rage of activities, including employment, and that access to these resources is related to gender relations at work and home. A lack of travel resources leads to less participation in the workforce; this can lead to a primary position as caregivers at home, which gives women less of a claim on their families’ travel resources. The necessity of changes to public policies, employer policies, and transport infrastructures is addressed.