The Past, Present, and Future of OBHDP
Jeffrey R. Edwards
University of North Carolina
July 2001 marks a time of transition for Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes. The journal was founded 35 years ago
by Jim Naylor under the title Organizational Behavior and Human Performance with
the goal of publishing fundamental research in applied psychology, analogous to
research in general psychology appearing in Psychological Bulletin and
Psychological Review (Naylor & Briggs, 1966). During the succeeding
years, the journal published articles in organizational behavior and psychology
as well as articles devoted to judgment and decision-making processes relevant
to organizations. The latter trend prompted the change of the journal title to Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes starting with the February 1985 issue
(Naylor, 1984). At that time, Dan Ilgen became associate editor and handled
manuscripts in organizational behavior and psychology, while Jim Naylor focused
on manuscripts concerning judgment, decision making, and quantitative methods.
Jim and Dan continued this arrangement until 1998, when Dan assumed the
editorship and invited Elke Weber and myself to serve as associate editors. Dan
asked me to become editor starting July 1 of this year, an honor and privilege I
gratefully accepted. Joining me as associate editors are Terry Connolly, David
Harrison, and Scott Highhouse, who are outstanding scholars and have
conscientiously served OBHDP over the years as reviewers and board
members.
My first action as incoming editor was to assess the status of OBHDP.
Published journal rankings have consistently listed OBHDP in the upper
echelon of journals that serve as outlets for research in organizational
behavior and psychology (e.g., Gomez-Mejia & Balkin, 1992; Johnson &
Podsakoff, 1994; Zickar & Highhouse, 2001). These rankings are consistent
with the results of a survey I conducted of outgoing board members, who
characterized OBHDP as one of the top journals in organizational
behavior. The survey also positioned OBHDP as one of the top journals in
the field of judgment and decision making. Thus, OBHDP has evidently
earned an outstanding reputation during its 35-year history, due in large part
to the dedication and hard work of its reviewers, board members, and editors,
particularly Jim Naylor and Dan Ilgen.
The survey of outgoing board members also suggested ways in which the
positioning and emphasis of OBHDP could benefit from some fine tuning and
adjustment. Several board members expressed the belief that OBHDP had
shifted away from organizational behavior and psychology and toward judgment and
decision making. This belief is consistent with recent publication patterns for OBHDP
in which some issues have contained more articles on judgment and decision
making than on organizational behavior and psychology. Moreover, some OBHDPP
articles that deal with decision processes have not directly addressed the
relevance of these processes to organizational behavior and psychology, even
though these processes are often quite relevant. These trends suggested that it
would be worthwhile to reaffirm the mission of OBHDP and communicate this
mission to SIOP members, who represent a core constituency of OBHDP.
Since its inception, OBHDP has been a forum for fundamental research
that delves into basic psychological, cognitive, and decision processes
underlying behavior in organizations (Naylor & Briggs, 1966). The blending
of organizational behavior and human decision processes represented in the title
of OBHDP is quite natural (March & Simon, 1958) and has enormous
potential for explaining numerous phenomena that are central to theory and
research in organizational behavior and psychology (Connolly & Ordez,
2001; Highhouse, 2001; Ilgen, Major, & Tower, 1994; Naylor, 1984). In turn,
research into basic psychological processes associated with organizational
behavior helps establish the relevance of these processes and contributes to
theory testing and development. This interplay is exemplified in OBHDP by
special issues under the editorships of Jim Naylor and Dan Ilgen on topics such
as cognitive self-regulation approaches to motivation (December 1991),
groupthink (FebruaryMarch 1998), the psychological foundations of knowledge
transfer in organizations (May 2000), and forthcoming issues on psychological
processes associated with organizational justice and emotions in the workplace.
Looking ahead, our goal is to reinforce this interplay by attracting and
publishing research that addresses basic psychological, cognitive, and decision
processes that pertain to attitudes and behavior in organizations. This goal is
manifested in the domain statement for OBHDP that the associate editors
and I crafted, which reads as follows:
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes publishes
fundamental research in organizational behavior, organizational psychology,
and human cognition, judgment, and decision making. The journal features
articles that present original empirical research, theory development,
literature reviews, and methodological advancements relevant to the
substantive domains served by the journal. For each type of article, the
journal emphasizes research that makes substantial contributions to
understanding psychological processes relevant to human attitudes, cognitions,
and behavior in organizations.
As implied by its title, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes spans a broad spectrum of topics that address psychological and
cognitive aspects of organizational behavior. These topics fall under the broad
headings of perception, cognition, judgment, attitudes, emotion, well-being,
motivation, choice, and performance. These topics are inherently integrative,
given that perceptions, attitudes, and emotions are rooted in cognition and
judgment, and motivation and performance are inextricably linked to choice. We
are interested in articles that investigate these topics as they pertain to
individuals as well as dyads, groups, and other social collectives, as
exemplified by research on social cognition, negotiation, conflict resolution,
interpersonal processes, and group decision making. For each topic, we place a
premium on articles that make fundamental theoretical contributions to applied
psychology and, at the same time, are anchored in phenomena relevant to
organizations.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes welcomes
empirical research using different methodological approaches, including
laboratory experiments, field experiments, field studies, survey research, and
computational modeling. Studies are evaluated not according to the method used,
but by the rigor and care with which the method is applied and its ability to
yield valid answers to important research questions. Manuscripts that present
multiple studies using complementary methods are particularly appealing.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes seeks research
that makes significant contributions to the literature. Hallmarks of such
research include developing and testing new theories, examining untested core
elements of existing theories, resolving conflicting predictions from multiple
theories or conflicting findings from multiple studies, and integrating
different theories, propositions, or research streams into a unified framework.
Significant contributions are less likely from research that merely replicates
previous findings, revisits established findings using different samples or
measures, or offers an incremental advancement to an existing body of knowledge.
We urge authors to pose research questions that are fundamental and relevant to
organizations, fully develop their theoretical arguments and hypotheses, apply
rigorous empirical methods, and seek conclusions that break new ground and
provide major and lasting impact.
The mission of OBHDP is reinforced by the incoming editorial board
listed at the end of this article. The areas of expertise represented by these
scholars demonstrate the blend of organizational behavior, organizational
psychology, and human cognition, judgment, and decision making that
characterizes the domain of OBHDP. Many of these scholars belong to SIOP,
and some are probably your colleagues. If so, please take a moment to
congratulate them for the role they will play in the future of OBHDP.
Further information regarding OBHDP is available at www.academicpress.com/obhdp.
In addition to the domain statement and incoming editorial board, this site
contains guidelines for authors and subscription rates, which are now discounted
for SIOP members.
OBHDP is entering the next phase in its history as a major journal in
organizational behavior, organizational psychology, and judgment and
decision-making processes relevant to attitudes, cognitions, and behavior in
organizations. The associate editors and I have inherited the stewardship of an
outstanding journal, and we are committed to further strengthening its quality
and reputation during the coming years. An important initial step is to reaffirm
the domain of the journal and communicate it to relevant stakeholders, such as
the members of SIOP. We hope you find this information useful as a reader,
reviewer, and author of OBHDP.
References
Connolly, T., & Ordez, L.
(2001). Judgment and decision making. In W. C. Borman, D. R. Ilgen, & R. J.
Klimoski (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychology, Volume 12: Industrial
and organizational psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Gomez-Mejia,
L. R., & Balkin, D. B. (1992). Determinants of faculty pay: An agency theory
perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 35, 921955.
Highhouse,
S. (2001). Judgment and decision-making research: Relevance to industrial and
organizational psychology. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. K. Sinangil, & C.
Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work, and organizational
psychology (pp. 314331). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Ilgen, D.
R., Major, D. A., & Tower, S. L. (1994). The cognitive revolution in
organizational behavior. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Organizational behavior: The
state of the science (pp. 122). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Johnson, J.
L., & Podsakoff, P. M. (1994). Journal influence in the field of management:
An analysis using Salanciks index in a dependency network. Academy of
Management Journal, 37, 13921407.
March, J.
G., & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. New York: John Wiley &
Sons.
Naylor, J.
C. (1984). A time of transition. Organizational Behavior and Human
Performance, 341,14.
Naylor, J.
C., & Briggs, G. E. (1966). Statement of editorial policy. Organizational
Behavior and Human Performance, 1, 12.
Zickar, M.
J., & Highhouse, S. (2001). Measuring prestige of journals in
industrial-organizational psychology. The Industrial-Organizational
Psychologist, 38, 4, 2936.
Incoming OBHDP Editorial Board
| Maureen Ambrose |
Jennifer M. George |
Gregory B. Northcraft |
| Hal R. Arkes |
Gerd Gigerenzer |
Greg R. Oldham |
| Susan J. Ashford |
Reid Hastie |
Lisa D. Ordez |
| Jonathan Baron |
Chip Heath |
Kenneth H. Price |
| Max H. Bazerman |
Rebecca A. Henry |
Ilana Ritov |
| William P. Bottom |
Verlin B. Hinsz |
John Schaubroeck |
| Jeanne M. Brett |
Daniel R. Ilgen |
David A. Schkade |
| Arthur P. Brief |
Gary Johns |
Benjamin Schneider |
| Joel Brockner |
Timothy A. Judge |
Zur Shapira |
| Susan E. Brodt |
Helmut Jungermann |
Barry M. Staw |
| Colin Camerer |
L. Robin Keller |
Philip E. Tetlock |
| David Chan |
Gideon B. Keren |
Leigh Thompson |
| Gretchen Chapman |
Joshua Klayman |
Robert J. Vandenberg |
| Russell Cropanzano |
Richard Klimoski |
Elke U. Weber |
| Shawn P. Curley |
Steve W. J. Kozlowski |
Douglas H. Wedell |
| Robyn M. Dawes |
Richard P. Larrick |
Howard M. Weiss |
| Fritz Drasgow |
Patrick R. Laughlin |
Robert E. Wood |
| Daniel C. Feldman |
Irwin P. Levin |
J. Frank Yates |
| Baruch Fischhoff |
Robert G. Lord |
Michael Zickar |
| Robert Folger |
Margaret A. Neale |
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