Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: foundations, extensions, and new directions

Abstract

Organizational science has never been a fully integrated discipline. Traditionally, organizational research has been conducted from three distinct points of view--the organization, the group, and the individual--although it is clear that processes occurring across all levels of an organization affect the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations as a whole. This fragmentation has encouraged the proliferation of separate disciplines, theories, and approaches. But in this volume, two dozen experts convince readers to consider multilevel analysis in the study of virtually all phenomena that occur within organizations. By illuminating top-down, bottom-up, and A-level processes and effects within an organization, the contributors bridge the gap between macro and micro approaches with a single unified theory. FROM THE INSIDE FLAP: "The organization may be an integrated system, but organizational science is not."—The Editors Although quick to acknowledge organizations as multilevel systems, organizational science has traditionally developed and tested theoretical models from three distinct points of view—organizational, group and individual. Each level has become the province of different disciplines, theories, and approaches that have evolved over time. The current challenge is to integrate processes occurring across and within all levels of an organization that affect the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations as a whole.Editors Katherine J. Klein and Steve W. J. Kozlowski draw on their own ample credentials and those of two dozen I/O experts to illuminate the interdependence of today's organizational behavior patterns and to integrate the discipline for future study. The contributors examine top-down, bottom-up processes and effects; they identify central issues, provide examples of integrated, multilevel models, and evaluate the dominant and most accepted techniques for the analysis of multilevel data. By synthesizing, evaluating, and updating current theory, Multilevel Theory, Research, and Methods in Organizations unifies, rather than fragments, the discipline's knowledge base. Seasoned practitioners and students of organizational structure and psychology will find the tools to bridge the gap between macro and micro approaches. This volume will stimulate and guide future researchers by providing convincing argument that multilevel analysis should be considered in the study of virtually all phenomena that occur in organizations today.