Date of Award

3-22-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

John J. Elshaw, PhD.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify the effect of psychological empowerment (PE) on social network location and individual performance. This study sought to test three hypotheses, which were introduced through a comprehensive literature review, regarding the relationships between social network centrality and individual job performance. Research has indicated a positive relationship between network centrality and performance; however, other research suggests performance can be better predicted by including motivation in the model. Therefore a moderation model was developed and tested to identify the relationships between network centrality, PE, and three categories of individual job performance: task performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). The moderation results suggest that PE influences the relationship between social network centrality and both task performance and OCBs. PE appears to enhance the relationship between network centrality and performance such that individuals with high perceptions of PE perform better than individuals with lower perceptions of PE of similar centrality. The study also suggests that social network location affects an individual's task performance and engagement in OCBs when the individuals have low perceptions of PE. Conversely, the study suggests social network location does not affect task performance for individuals with high perceptions of PE.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GEM-ENV-12-M21

DTIC Accession Number

ADA558226

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