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 BOOK REVIEWS 785

Robert G. Jones (Ed.). Nepotism in Organizations. New York, NY:

Routledge, 2012, 293 pages, $52/$65 hardcover.
Reviewed by Stephen M. Colarelli, Department of Psychology, Central
Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI.

Nepotism is a broad term that runs the gamut from kin influence on
career choice to hiring a spouse or child to the world of family-owned
businesses. Most of you reading this review probably have experience
with nepotism. Perhaps there are married couples in your department or
firm; or you work for, consulted in, or own family businesses. You may
have chosen your profession because you were inspired, counseled, or
given opportunities by a successful relative. We all know of successful
people in psychology, business, the arts, and politics whose careers are
associated with nepotism. I was easily able to jot down over 50 nepotistic
associations during the course of writing this review (see Table 1).
Although nepotism is everywhere in the world of careers and organi-
zations, it doesn’t exist in the I-O psychology literature. Pick up the latest
edition of whatever introductory I-O psychology textbook you have on
hand and check the index. Nepotism is probably not listed; if it is, not
much will be written about it. If you do a literature search on nepotism in
organizations, not much will come up. Like sex lives and bank accounts,
most everybody has them but doesn’t talk about them.
Robert Jones’ Nepotism in Organizations, the latest volume in SIOP’s
Organizational Frontiers Series, does our field a real service by introducing
nepotism to I-O psychology. Readers of his book will (a) get a basic
understanding of what nepotism is, (b) learn how nepotism relates to
traditional areas of I-O psychology, and (c) be exposed to new constructs
associated with nepotism. The book consists of 11 chapters.1 Jones begins
with a working definition of nepotism in Chapter 1. Defining nepotism is
problematic—there are over 30 definitions in the scholarly literature. In
his wrap-up chapter, he synthesizes from prior chapters to develop a more
complete definition of nepotistic organizational behavior, viz:

Nepotistic organizational behavior is a set of actual or perceived individ-

ual, group, or organizational preferential behaviors associated with famil-
ial relationships that influence organizational effectiveness and survival
through: perceived fairness, individual and group performance, leadership
performance, trust, commitment and retention, legal actions, work family
conflict, and costs of doing business. [p. 256]

1
In addition to the eight chapters I remark on in this review, the book also includes
excellent chapters by Becker (Nepotism and the Commitment of Relevant Parties), Wated
and Sanchez (The Cultural Boundary of Managing Nepotism), and Mulder (A Model of
Organizational Nepotism).
 TABLE 1 786
Examples of Successful Nepotistic Relationships

Psychology Business Politics Arts

Parent Edward and Jonathan Levine; Rupert and James Murdoch; George H. and George W. Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey;
Off- Irv and Harold Goldstein; Ronald and Raymond Bush; Colin and Michael Jon Voight and Angelina
spring E.F. and Charles F. Perlman; August Busch III Powell; Richard J. and Jolie; Johnny and Rosanne
Wonderlic; Edward and and August Busch IV; Richard M. Daley; Jesse Cash; Judy Garland and Liza
Robert Thorndike; Arnold Joseph and Pete Coors Jackson and Jesse Jackson, Minelli; Nat and Natalie
and David Buss; Elliot and Jr.; George and Mitt Cole; Henry and Jane Fonda;
Joshua Aronson; Sigmund Romney; Pat and Jerry Lloyd and Jeff Bridges
and Anna Freud; William Brown
and Tacy Byham
Spouses Frank and Lillian Gilbreth; Estee and Leonard Lauder; Corazon and Benigno Aquino; Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz;
Keller and Marian Breland; Katharine and Philip Juan and Eva Peron; Bill and George and Gracie Burns;
Ann Howard and Doug Graham; Leona and Harry Hillary Clinton; Justinian Paul and Linda McCartney;
Bray; Joyce and Bob Hogan; Helmsley; Bill and Melinda and Theodora John and Christine McVie;
Marv Dunnette and Leaetta Gates Steve Allen and Jayne
Hough; Jeanette Cleveland Meadows
and Kevin Murphy; Jacob
and Patricia Cohen; Martin
PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

Daley and Margo Wilson;

John Tooby and Leda
Cosmides
Siblings Gordon and Floyd Allport Lorenzo, Giuliano, and
Lucrezia de Medici; John
and Forrest (Jr.) Mars; David
and Laurance Rockefeller;
David and Charles Koch
Fidel and Raul Castro; John
and Robert Kennedy
Ann and Nancy Wilson; Brian
and Dennis Wilson;
Malcolm and Angus Young;
Eddie and Alex Van Halen;
Alec, Daniel, William and
Stephen Baldwin
 BOOK REVIEWS 787

Definitionally and conceptually, Jones takes a neutral stance towards

nepotism, looking at it functionally and practically without any a priori
assumptions that it is inherently good or bad.
Muchinsky takes Jones’ neutral principle seriously and presents a bal-
anced view of the nepotistic organizations. His chapter looks at nepotism
from the perspective of family-owned businesses. This chapter is a gem.
Muchinsky starts off with theoretical preliminaries (definitions, a typol-
ogy of nepotistic organizations) and then looks at how nepotistic issues
could enrich traditional content areas of I-O psychology: work–family,
career development, recruitment-selection-placement, conflict, and orga-
nizational justice. As he does in his popular introductory I-O psychology
textbook, he peppers his chapter with interesting “field notes” that engage
the reader with real world illustrations. He concludes with an admoni-
tion: I-O psychology is committing Type II disciplinary error by ignoring
nepotism in organizations.
Two of my favorite chapters in the book are van Hooft and Stout’s
chapter on nepotism and career choice and Masuda and Visio’s chapter on
nepotism and work–family interface. When I thought nepotism, I would
think about it within an organizational context. Van Hooft and Stout
turn the tables and focus on nepotism from the perspective of a person
making career decisions. They point out that a person’s career decisions
are often influenced by kin. For example, children often enter careers
similar to parents or other close kin because they perceive a good fit or
because they build up career specific capital by learning from their kin.
Certainly, tapping relatives for job and career opportunities can make a job
search easier and potentially more fruitful. Masuda and Visio examine the
nepotism and work–family interface. They make a number of thoughtful
points. Nepotism is the norm in many countries; therefore, given the global
economy, it doesn’t make sense for global American companies to rigidly
enforce antinepotism policies. They make a convincing argument that
nepotism between spouses can be positive in many ways. It can lessen
work–family conflict, increase flexibility between work and family areas,
and enhance work–family enrichment (work–family enrichment occurs
when resources gained in one role transfer to another and vise versa). The
reality of dual-career couples suggests that organizations with flexible
nepotism policies are at an advantage in the competitive marketplace
for talent. Nepotism may offer new meaning to the “family friendly”
workplace.
Most definitions and modern views of nepotism assume that it is bad or
unfair, and several the chapters in Nepotism in Organizations reflect that
point of view. The literature on nepotism and employment law, which
Gutman reviews, leans towards negative interpretations of nepotism.
“[C]ase law is disposed to ‘bad’ things. Plaintiffs never challenge
788 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

workplace policies because they are too good or overly fair” (p. 13).
He covers the gamut of employment law as could conceivably relate to
nepotism: constitutional issues, Title VII, state laws, challenges to anti-
nepotism and pro-nepotism policies, favoritism, and sexual harassment.
A fair amount of case law relates to “favoritism,” where someone pulled
strings to get a relative (usually a spouse) hired. Antinepotism policies
are generally regarded as permissible because they are “rationally re-
lated . . . [to] conflicts of interest” (p. 23).
In their chapter on nepotism and leadership, Mhatre, Riggio, and Rig-
gio state that nepotistic leadership is by definition unfair, unethical, and
inauthentic. It is also the only chapter in the book that includes a discus-
sion of the biological roots of nepotism: inclusive fitness. Inclusive fitness
is the propensity to preferentially help kin over nonkin, and close kin over
distant kin. This is an evolved characteristic of mammals and other social
species. They also discuss how “delay of dispersal,” a concept from the
animal behavior literature, could also help explain nepotism in humans.
At some point, offspring (sometimes, males; sometimes, females; some-
times both, depending on the species) disperse, leave their natal family,
and strike out on their own. Offspring are more likely to delay dispersal
when the natal territory has abundant resources. Generalizing to humans,
Mhatre et al. opine that the children of the rich are more likely to delay
dispersal than children with less well-heeled parents; therefore, “wealthy,
powerful families are much more likely to be nepotistic than families with
little power or wealth or power” (p. 181). They also examine trust and
power as relational dynamics of nepotism, arguing that nepotism offers
“the perfect shortcut” (p. 185) to get instant trust and that hiring rela-
tives “creates an instantaneous network of followers or colleagues over
which they have power and who can be influenced relatively easily” (p.
187). They recommend authentic leadership training to help overcome the
limitations of nepotistic leaders.
Given the biological roots of leadership motivation, I’m not convinced
that authentic leadership training would be a good bet. Male primates
(including humans) who become leaders reap two extraordinary bene-
fits. Compared to other males, leaders get a disproportionate share of
the group’s resources, and they have more sexual intercourse with fer-
tile females. Notable human leaders whose bank accounts and sex lives
we know something about fit the bill: Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Elliot
Spitzer, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards, Gary Hart, Strom Thurmond, John
and Ted Kennedy, Jack Welch, Mark Sanford, and Arnold Schwarzeneg-
ger. Those who become leaders tend to be dominant and narcissistic,
particularly those in large organizations. Nonfamily businesses are more
likely to get this type of leader, where getting to the top involves intense
 BOOK REVIEWS 789

competition and political maneuvering. Ironically, the situation is differ-

ent in a family-owned business. Competition for the top spot is rarely
as cutthroat. In addition, the leader of the family business is in it for
more than just status, sex, and stock options. Leaders of family-owned
businesses tend to be in the game also for their family legacy, the fam-
ily name, and the future generations who will run and benefit from the
company. They have more motivation and more at stake to make the
company successful and last a long time. This may be why, as Dickson,
Nieminen, and Biermeier-Hanson point out in their chapter on nepotism
and organizational homogeneity, that family-owned businesses are better
places to work than nonfamily businesses. Family-owned businesses have
more positive cultures and higher levels of employee loyalty, cohesion,
and trust. In addition, they have stronger cultures so that the attraction–
selection–attrition process is also stronger.
Nepotism in Organizations is a first in I-O psychology. Jones and his
chapter contributors have covered a wide range of topics related to nepo-
tism, clarified definitions and issues related to nepotism in organizations,
and made a number of suggestions for research. I have only a couple of
concerns with the book, and these reflect more the fact that the book is
virgin territory than any inherent shortcomings. Theoretically, the book
is all over the map—ASA, justice, P–E fit, self-efficacy, social network
theory, work–family border theory, the theory of reasoned action, stake-
holder theory, to name a few. Although these theoretical perspectives add
insights to the dynamics of nepotism, it would have more compelling to
see a smaller number of strong theories woven throughout the book. Jones
acknowledges this as well. My preference would have been a greater
use of kin selection theory—drawing from fundamental science, basic
evolutionary biology. Another concern is that some recent literature on
family businesses and nepotism was overlooked, particularly with re-
spect to family businesses (e.g., work by Nicholson and Yang). A number
of the chapter authors contrasted (bad) nepotism with the old chestnuts
of (good) performance, efficiency, and merit—as though we have them
down to an exact science and as though there are no other important
criteria.
Nepotism in Organizations should be on every I-O psychologist’s
bookshelf. It offers something for the practitioner, academic, and graduate
student. For the practitioner, the book gives insights for interventions
to minimize nepotism’s negatives and maximize its positives. For the
academic and graduate student, the book provides a wealth of interesting
ideas to think about and possible research topics. The book is a little
pricey, particularly for graduate students. If you can’t afford it, no problem,
borrow the money from your dad.
790 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

Jon P. Howell. Snapshots of Great Leadership. New York, NY:

Routledge, 2013, 267 pages, $24.95 paperback, $65.00 hardcover.
Reviewed by Ira J. Morrow, Associate Professor of Management, Lubin
School of Business, Pace University, New York, NY.

This book has a terse and direct title, and an attractive blue cover show-
ing the faces of four leaders from different spheres of human endeavor:
Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa. What
reader with even a passing interest in the fascinating yet elusive topic of
leadership could fail to be attracted? This reviewer certainly looked for-
ward to at least an informative and interesting reading experience and
frankly, in light of the topic, to perhaps an uplifting message or lesson
about leadership. Unfortunately, for several reasons to be discussed here,
Howell’s work was disappointing.
The book begins on a promising note with a 26-page chapter that
reviews the major theories of leadership that have been proposed and re-
searched through the years including, trait theories, leadership grid, con-
tingency theory, situational leadership theory, path–goal theory, multiple
linkage model, normative decision theory of participation, leader mem-
ber exchange theory, implicit leadership theory, servant leadership theory,
and principle-centered leadership, among others. It is certainly helpful and
convenient to have this material presented here in an organized and clear
manner. The chapter concludes with a two-page spreadsheet that shows
with “X” marks which of 14 different theories applies to the list of leaders
discussed in the book.
The remainder of the book consists entirely of brief biographical
sketches of 25 great leaders and five bad leaders. Although all of this
material is presented in a clear and accessible manner, several significant
problems soon become obvious. First, Howell never discusses what con-
stitutes, defines, or characterizes either great or bad leadership, or what
criteria were used to select or reject leaders for coverage in the book. If
these choices were made just on the basis of the author’s own personal
whims, interests, or biases, he should at least say so. No attempt is made
to organize the 30 leaders either chronologically or by major field of en-
deavor, so the entire book feels haphazard and disorganized. Moreover,
each of these sketches stands alone, and no attempt is made anywhere in
this book to relate, compare, or contrast one leader to the other. It is as if
one part of the book has nothing to do with any other part of the book.
This problem is most glaringly obvious in the author’s very weak and lim-
ited attempts to relate the biographical sketches to the leadership theories
discussed in the opening chapter. Each biographical sketch simply con-
cludes with one paragraph in which the author merely seems to convert the
 BOOK REVIEWS 791

spreadsheet’s “X” marks into brief verbal statements with very little expla-
nation or elucidation. He frustratingly and irritatingly leaves the hard work
of fully explaining how the theories apply to each person up to the reader.
Because the author never discusses the criteria for selecting leaders
for inclusion in the book, most readers will, I expect, wonder why certain
individuals were included and why other obvious candidates were omitted.
What is the justification for example for including the women’s basketball
coach Pat Summitt but omitting Franklin D. Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt,
Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Meriwether Lewis,
Thomas Jefferson, Alexander the Great, or Julius Caesar? This matter
of inclusion or exclusion is especially irritating in the section of the
book dealing with “snapshots of bad leadership,” which does not seem
to fit in with the book at all because it is after all titled “Snapshots
of Great Leadership.” Are these then snapshots of great, bad leaders?
Most horrifically, Howell lumps together in this section some admittedly
weak, damaging, irresponsible business leaders such as Albert Dunlap
of Sunbeam and Kenneth Lay of Enron with, I could scarcely believe it,
Adolf Hitler, who gave us The Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews,
and World War II, as if these are all just cases of “bad leadership.”
One would hope that we would be inspired when reading about the
lives of great leaders. However, the biographical sketches presented here
are unfortunately dry and lifeless, and they read like Wikipedia articles,
which is not surprising because for many of the biographical sketches
Wikipedia is one of a mere handful or fewer of references that are cited.
One of the key things that make leaders great is certainly the manner
in which they communicate to, and thereby influence and inspire, oth-
ers. Here however, Howell rarely provides us with actual vivid exam-
ples of what these leaders said. He tells us for example that Winston
Churchill “became known for his cleverness with words” (p. 90), that “His
tough carefully crafted rhetoric galvanized the British people” (p. 93), and
that, “His speeches continued to inspire and stimulate the British people
(p. 93), but in his entire seven page sketch he quotes exactly one sen-
tence from Churchill, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much
owed by so many to so few” (p. 94). Likewise, when discussing the great
explorer of the Antarctic, Ernest Shackleton, Howell states, “He spoke
simply and briefly . . . The speech immediately caused the men to adopt
a more cheerful view of their situation” (p. 46). So why not quote the
speech at least in part? Likewise, Howell tells us that Abraham Lincoln
had a “reputation as a great speaker and humorous story teller” (p. 59),
but you will have to take his word for this (or just go to see the recently
released movie Lincoln) if you want some examples of Lincoln as a great
communicator beyond the phrase, “with malice toward none, with charity
for all” (p. 61).
792 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

Aside from the aforementioned weak, unsatisfying, and inadequate

attempt to relate each leader to leadership theories of one sort or another,
each biographical sketch ends rather abruptly with no attempt made to
draw inspiring lessons from the lives of the leaders. The author does
provide a few discussion questions at the end of each case, but in many
cases these questions are difficult to answer solely on the basis of the
material provided to us in the book. For example, even after reading the six
page biographical sketch of Lincoln, it is not clear how one would answer
a question such as, “Try to think of specific situations in Lincoln’s life
that he demonstrated Charismatic/Transformational Leadership? Describe
these situations” (p. 62). Moreover, the entire book just ends with the
last bad leader, Kenneth Lay. The author fails to provide a summary or
concluding chapter that could have discussed such issues as: What are
the take-away lessons for aspiring leaders? What do we expect or need
from leaders in different fields of endeavor including politics, government,
business, sports, education, or the military, and how should leadership be
ideally manifested in these different spheres of life? What lessons can be
learned about how to raise, educate, train, develop, or identify effective
leaders? What are the interesting cultural differences that need to be taken
into account when considering leadership? How has leadership changed
through the ages?
This book’s shortcomings make for a disappointing reading experi-
ence. It is difficult to see who would benefit from the book beyond the
first chapter review of leadership theories, material that can nevertheless
be found in other works. The interesting connective tissue between theory
and cases that could have been this book’s primary contribution is wholly
deficient. It is hoped at least that after reading these cases, that some read-
ers may wish to learn more about people such as Lincoln, Jobs, Churchill,
Sitting Bull, and Mother Teresa, and will turn to more interesting material
to satisfy their curiosity. In conclusion, this work unfortunately provides
an example of why we should never judge a book by its attractive cover.

Clayton P. Alderfer. The Practice of Organizational Diagnosis: Theory

and Methods. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011, 532 pages,
$57.50 hardcover.
Reviewed by Steven Toaddy, PhD, Industrial-Organizational Psychology,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

Leading With the Punch Line

Because it is somewhat unclear from the title and jacket who was
intended to read this book, I think the greatest service I can provide is
 BOOK REVIEWS 793

to skip that question and explain what value the book holds for readers
coming from a variety of backgrounds, reading for a variety of purposes.
If Alderfer had this issue in mind when assembling the contents of this
book, he did well, in my assessment, to ensure that all types of people
likely to give the volume a second look would obtain some benefit from
reading it, in whole or in part. Let me be explicit, though:
r The advanced organizational practitioner will obtain clarity in the
theory-laden nature of her or his practice, an appreciation for inter-
group dynamics (as they apply to organizational and organizational-
diagnosis phenomena) under embedded intergroup relations theory,
a framework and vocabulary by which to evaluate and convey the
validity of established techniques, and perhaps most importantly a
strong theory to unify the varied aspects of professional practice at
all stages of organizational diagnosis, from organizational entry to
feedback provision, complete with (justified) recommendations for
best practices and ethical considerations.
r The instructor of graduate courses in organizational sciences will
obtain a curriculum framework for training the current and next gen-
eration of organizational diagnosticians in the knowledge and skills
required for thoughtful, valid, effective, and ethical professional
practice.
r The consumer of scholarly work will obtain, through thorough and
example-rich explanation, an understanding of embedded intergroup
relations theory, including a means by which to evaluate the validity
of the theory and the methods used to test it.
r The producer of scholarly work will obtain insights into the domains
of empirical and theoretical development that require additional
exploration, an appreciation for the historical pursuit of clarity on
the issue of intergroup relations, and the first hints of a roadmap to
continue such work in the coming decades.
r The philosopher of science, particularly one interested in Kuhnian
ideas, will obtain a greater understanding of the nature of social
science and refreshingly relevant (i.e., non-physics-based) examples
of the central role of theory in observing the world.
r The advanced graduate student will obtain practical advice on how
to enter the field of organizational diagnosis, what skills he or she
must develop to be effective in the field, and how to develop those
skills.
r The advanced undergraduate student or early-in-studies graduate
student will obtain an appreciation for a variety of issues essential
to the way that he or she pursues graduate study and comes to see the
state of the social sciences, within and without the particular applied
794 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

domain of organizational diagnosis, with regard to the necessity and

presence or absence of strong theory in specific methodology, the
ethics of professional practice, and the nuanced nature of interaction
with individuals within and without organizations.

In the interest of brevity, I’ve left some categories out, but other readers
(e.g., the early-career practitioner, the historian of science, the contractor
of organizational-diagnosis services) can presumably infer which pieces
of the above would be most beneficial for their own purposes.
Lest I fail to clearly state my position on the utility of the book
and my point is lost in all of the specifics above, let me say this: Though
Alderfer clearly sought a jack-of-all-trades approach in writing the volume
in question, he achieved a masterful conveyance of most, if not all, of the
above-indicated topics. I explore how I arrived at this conclusion below.

Get Out of My Head, Clayton

Alderfer set out to accomplish an ambitious task: to establish, in a sin-

gle volume, an approach to organizational diagnosis that relied principally
on the theory of embedded intergroup relations. The keyword “establish”
and key phrase “single volume” are what make this such a difficult task.
Surely in a few dozen pages a scholar of Alderfer’s standing could sum-
marize embedded intergroup relations theory and show how current and
historical approaches to organizational diagnosis have been and in the fu-
ture increasingly should be built on the formation of this theory. However,
clearly the product in question—at just over 500 pages—was not such a
summary. Instead, the volume is, in a word, comprehensive.
As a testament to Alderfer’s substantial expertise as an instructor, his
writing in this volume embodies the best sort of just-in-time principles.
As the heading of this section implies, I (nearly) suspected that Alderfer
was privy to my thoughts, particularly my questions and suspicions, as
I read this book. In this framework, his responses to my demands for
additional information occurred all the way from the level of the organi-
zation of the book—laying out the framework in exactly the right order
and leaving nothing to prior knowledge or experience—down to the level
of the individual paragraph or sentence. The skeptical reader (which I
consider myself) will often be given pause when reading this volume, but
when that reader pushes on through the paragraph or chapter, he or she
will be rewarded with an acknowledgment of the recently experienced
disquiet, the variety of perspectives that could be brought to bear on the
issue at hand, and a series of arguments that address concerns from each
of those perspectives. This is truly masterfully done, though it is important
to note that, for full effect, the reader should open the book and read from
 BOOK REVIEWS 795

the acknowledgment to the index (in fact, doing specifically this helps
bring one closer to Alderfer and his colleagues as they proceed through
their professional and personal lives—an added benefit for the interested
reader). This is not to imply that picking and choosing chapters will leave
the reader stranded for having begun in medias res, as Alderfer tends to
define a term or explain circumstances of a given example anew each time
it arises much more often than he refers the reader to a different chapter
or, very seldom indeed, to an external reading.

However

A few cautionary and critical notes do need to be made with regard to

this work. First, the cautionary: In deriving (while showing his work) his
ethical principles, Alderfer contradicts or supplants the principles of sev-
eral professional organizations and law in general. The reader, of course,
should in this as in all cases evaluate for herself or himself whether such
ethical principles are appropriate rather than accepting them at face value.
The most worrisome aspect of Alderfer’s writings in this volume, how-
ever, relates to the frequent use of the words “tacit” and “unconscious” and
to the integration of psychoanalytic thinking into the overall argument.
Usually the use of the word “tacit” is defended and justified through inter-
pretation of examples, but (and the author acknowledges this frequently)
they render the overall logic of and evidence for the narrative less than
bulletproof.
But then, any argument within any topic of empirical and/or theoretical
endeavor is not bulletproof (cf. Chapter 1) and what constitutes “evidence”
is, in large part, open to interpretation (cf. Chapter 8). Alderfer has laid out
his case and, expertly, has provided the reader with the tools to evaluate
that case’s quality and recommended areas in which they can start using
those tools. I could ask for no more; the rest is up to the reader.

Yael Zofi. A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams. New York, NY: AMA-
COM, 2011, 264 pages, $27.95 hardcover.
Reviewed by Tom Walk, Director of Human Capital Analytics, MetLife,
New York, NY.

A recent survey conducted by the Society for Human Resources Man-

agement (SHRM) found that 66% of the multinational companies sur-
veyed used virtual teams—teams whose members were located in diverse
geographies (Geller & Lee, 2012). As countless trade and academic ar-
ticles have documented, the rise of virtual teams has been driven by the
796 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

forces of globalization and technology (see Martins, Gilson, & Maynard,

2004, or Powell, Piccoli, & Ives, 2004 for reviews). Of course, these forces
have not only driven the need for virtual teams but have also created the
key challenges that most organizations face in delivering effective vir-
tual teams. In a geographically and culturally diverse team, where most
team interaction is electronic, it is difficult to build effective teamwork,
maintain robust communication, and manage performance (Geller & Lee,
2012).
A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams aims to address these challenges.
As I began to read this book I was concerned that Zofi would not be able
to add much more to this discussion. After all, thousands of books and
articles have discussed teamwork, performance management, and moti-
vation over the last several decades, and in the last 15 years, hundreds
of books and articles have dealt specifically with virtual teams. I was
even more concerned after reading Chapter 1 in which the author used
a travel metaphor to describe basic concepts commonly discussed in the
leadership and team building literature. The first chapter does little more
than provide a short description for the concepts of hiring/orientation,
goal setting, accountability, and building team norms. For most readers
who’ve been managers for a while or who’ve taken leadership develop-
ment courses (which likely includes most Personnel Psychology readers),
Zofi’s coverage of these topics will not provide much interest.
After reading the full book, however, it is clear that this is not where this
book provides its greatest value. Throughout the book, the author does an
excellent job taking these concepts and providing practical illustrations
of how they can be applied to the virtual team context. Herein lies the
value of the book. Using a few core leadership concepts as anchors, Zofi
describes a number of useful tactics for how to adapt “brick and mortar”
oriented leadership to the virtual environment. For example, in the context
of introducing team members to one another, Zofi discusses the notion of
scheduling an Instant Messaging (IM) session between the two associates
where each would pose the other a set of predetermined questions. At first,
this exercise might seem a waste of time; after all, one could just as easily
publish a bio that answers the questions. However, as Zofi points out, a
bio doesn’t build a bridge between two people, and it doesn’t provide
a starting point for building a habit of interaction—an IM conversation
around those same questions accomplishes both goals.
Zofi also provides a very thorough treatment of the multicultural na-
ture of virtual teams. Once again, her greatest strength in this area isn’t
in discussing theory but providing tangible ideas and examples to drive
appropriate behavior. For example, as a means to heighten cultural aware-
ness and build rapport between team members of different cultures, she
offers an example from a client who had members of her virtual team
 BOOK REVIEWS 797

share local snack foods during monthly teleconferences. Each month,

team members in a given country would identify a local snack food that
would be featured during the monthly team meeting. The team members
in that country would then ship the snack food to other team members
for the meeting. Of course, this type of team building activity doesn’t,
by itself, build a high level of cultural sensitivity, but, as Zofi points out,
these types of activities are a fun way to signal the right norms and ex-
pectations to the team members. This example also illustrates another
useful principle built into this book. Zofi makes no claims that any of her
interventions are the “silver bullet.” Rather, she makes it clear that only
through careful planning, consistent leadership messages, and focus will
a team fully come together and begin performing at a high level.
Although A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams provides a great intro-
duction to how managers might better lead their virtual teams, it should
be noted that this book does bring a very specific point of view as it talks
about virtual teams. Specifically, although virtual teams exist for a variety
of purposes, Zofi focuses almost exclusively on project teams and partic-
ularly technical project teams. Although most literature suggests that this
is the most common form of virtual team, it does require the reader to
translate the examples and case studies into the virtual team type that she
might actually be managing.
Finally, while I do recommend this book overall, it is fair to say that
this book has some flaws. First, although Zofi’s writing is very clear, it
is sometimes wordy, and she belabored her point in a few instances. As
a consequence, some chapters in this book, although very informative,
can be a bit tedious to read. In addition, Zofi refers the reader to her
consulting firm’s website for samples of a few tools that she uses in her
practice, but when you go to the website, it is not clear where these tools
might be. Effectively, you are forced to tour her firm’s website to see
the examples. Although Zofi does an admirable job of keeping to her
thesis and avoiding any overt marketing for her firm, this instance with
her website felt a bit like a marketing ploy. Finally, it is clear that Zofi
sees multiculturalism as a critical aspect of the virtual team environment
that must be actively managed to build a strong virtual team. That being
said, there were moments in this book where she overplayed this factor.
For instance, her introduction makes it appear impossible for anyone
without superhuman cultural sensitivity to succeed as a virtual team leader.
Although I would certainly agree with the premise that cultural sensitivity
is important, the book does, at times, go a bit far.
In summary, although I would argue that this work could be a bit tighter
and the author does appear to belabor some of her points, A Manager’s
Guide to Virtual Teams has two very powerful virtues. First, this book
focuses very clearly on providing realistic tactics rather than discussing
798 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

theories. Consequently, a virtual team leader could implement many of the

author’s suggestions immediately. Second, Zofi demonstrates a remark-
able grasp of the multicultural nature of many virtual teams and provides
excellent advice on how to address this aspect of the virtual team context.

REFERENCES

Geller D, Lee C. (2012). SHRM. Survey findings: Virtual teams. Retrieved from
www.slideshare.net/SHRM/virtual_team_final.
Martins L, Gilson L, Maynard M. (2004). Virtual teams: What do we know and where do
we go from here. Journal of Management, 30, 805–835.
Powell A, Piccoli G, Ives B. (2004). Virtual teams: A review of current literature and
directions for future research. ACM SIGMIS, 35(1), 6–36.

Matthias Ziegler, Carolyn MacCann, and Richard D. Roberts. (Eds.).

New Perspectives on Faking in Personality Assessment. Oxford, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 2012, 364 pages, $59.95, hardcover.
Reviewed by Theodore L. Hayes, Personnel Research Psychologist, U.S.
Office of Personnel Management, Washington, DC.

The 19 chapters in this book version of two 2006 symposia at Edu-

cational Testing Service, which also spawned a special issue in 2011 of
the journal Human Performance, attempt with mixed success to assess
the nature of faking on self-report measures of personality. Researchers
seem drawn to the subject of faking in self-report because faking tech-
nology, such as social desirability scales, generate data that allow for a
bit of moralizing. Faking can also be reliably manipulated in psychology
research labs under instructions to “fake good.” For a reliable main effect,
though, it seems we know little about what self-report faking really is. As
Heggestad notes in his chapter in the current volume, “(W)e have stud-
ied the expected effects of faking and explored potential solutions to the
problem it presents without first developing a thorough understanding of
its nature” (p. 99).
Each chapter approaches the subject matter in slightly different ways.
The resulting book has lessons for behavioral researchers, psychometri-
cians, practitioners, and academicians. Overall the editors have elicited
a more intense and focused tone than found in a similar book on the
topic (Griffith & Peterson, 2006) even though some of the authors are
published in both volumes. Two surprising choices by this volume’s ed-
itors, in contrast to Griffith and Peterson (2006), were to not include a
chapter on international perspectives on personality and faking, and to
not have a chapter by Robert Hogan. Including chapters by Griffith and
Converse and by Paulhus, among others, belies an explanation that only
“new perspectives” were sought in this volume.
 BOOK REVIEWS 799

Aside from these oversights, New Perspective on Faking in Person-

ality Assessment is brimming with articulate and well-reasoned chapters.
Some are academic and balanced (Heggestad, Reeder, & Ryan), and stay
within a framework of reviewing the state of knowledge about faking.
Other chapters take one side about faking (Dilchert & Ones; Smith &
McDaniel; Zickar & Sliter) or the other (Griffith & Converse; Holden &
Book; Lukoff). The eponymous “new perspectives” offered in this volume
came largely from those who either reconceptualized self-report in terms
of goals and motivations (Ellingson; Kuncel, Bourneman, & Kiger) or dis-
cussed assessment methods (Backstrom, Bjorklund, & Larsson; Burrus,
Naemi, & Kyllonen; Paulhus; Stark, Chernyshenko, & Drasgow; Ventura).
Maybe the best that could be said about the decades of research on faking,
based on these chapters, is that it has raised the quality of research and
psychometric techniques available for other applications.
One novelty in this volume compared to previous books is the inclu-
sion of a chapter by Hall and Hall discussing assessment mostly from a
psychopathology perspective but with an eye on the potential legal ram-
ifications of labeling test takers as “fakers.” This chapter nicely brings
the dry academic dispute into sunlight. In another welcome difference,
the editors have their own summary chapter and invited an overview
summary by Sackett. This chapter, as echoed in his Human Performance
article, brings a balanced, unhurried, and thoughtful review of the issues
involved. Sackett’s chapter arrives at the following key conclusions. First,
faking exists. Second, faking is situationally specific intentional response
distortion. Third, faking doesn’t affect test validity or utility. Fourth, fak-
ing is problematic if personality tests are the sole means of assessment, or
if test-takers are selected in a top-down manner; these issues are negated
by using additional selection methods and by applying a “screen-out”
cut-score strategy. Finally, warnings and detection technology should not
be relied upon to deter or unambiguously identify faking. In short, as
in Sackett’s other seminal papers, this chapter both addresses contentious
academic issues carefully and provides guidelines for practitioners as well
as future research.
The title of the book unintentionally hints at the problems with which
the authors wrestle. Specifically, the most disappointing aspect of this
book is that the authors rely on a presumed common understanding about
what faking and personality are. Smith and McDaniel spend half of their
chapter on personality theory. Otherwise, unless I missed it, the only other
authors who attempt to define personality are Ziegler, MacCann, and
Roberts (“people’s behavioral tendencies,” p. 5); Ellingson (“Personal-
ity traits characterize individuals’ behavior, interpretations, and attitude,”
p. 23); and Ventura (“social dispositions,” p. 165). Stark et al. note the
criticality of personality as an individual difference characteristic, and
800 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

Burrus et al. seem to recast personality as a skill set. At the other end
of the spectrum, Paulhus clearly sees the “over-claiming technique” as
applicable to any survey, of which assessments of personality are simply
a special case. It would help the reader to obtain a better understanding
of the nature of faking to define faking within a nomological network
of personality. In contrast, even MacCann, Ziegler, and Roberts in their
summary chapter metaphorically raise a scholarly eyebrow at the variety
of definitions of faking among the preceding chapters.
Better research on faking might arise from pausing before continuing to
engage in main effect research. For example, faking research can be neatly
divided into (a) focusing on detection technology (e.g., “lie” scales) and
(b) focusing on the potential impact of faking on construct measurement.
It would seem that some integration of these two approaches might be
fruitful, and Ellingson and Kuncel et al. seem to be headed that way.
Better research might also investigate Sackett’s implications (p. 331) that
faking might be likened to a “Stage 1” or effortless cognitive process,
whereas better personality measurement might arise by creating a response
demand for more effortful “Stage 2” processing (e.g., Stanovich, 2010). A
substantive question arising from encouraging effortful, thoughtful self-
report would be whether the focus is on assessing some intrapsychic
phenomenon or whether the goal of assessment is to measure interpersonal
tendencies that relate to consequential outcomes
More questions arise after reflecting upon the concluding recommen-
dations from Sackett’s and MacCann et al. First, if personality measures
retain about 75% of their predictive value after controlling for faking,
what does that say about the role of “faking” and “nonfaked” personality
in criterion performance? Second, most authors conclude that faking is
situationally specific, and thus, we should explore faking goals within
situations, yet hasn’t that turned out to be a losing hand for personality
researchers? That sets up the third question, specifically, what is “natural
faking”—faking when we’re not providing people with artificial stimuli
such as an attitude question and asking them to mark their agreement with
a pencil—and what is its base rate? Finally, does it seem unreasonable
that “faking” increases when people are put in an unnatural situation, such
as an all-or-nothing selection test setting (Young, 2003), yet faking is de-
creased when there is less salience on the consequences of one selection
method (Hogan, Barrett, & Hogan, 2007)?
If it seems unreasonable, then test preparation for large consequential
professional tests is unreasonable, yet we seem at peace with encourag-
ing people to prepare for these tests (Kulik, Bangert-Drowns, & Kulik,
1984; te Nijenhuis, Voskuijl, & Schijve, 2001). As an aside, where is the
lucubration about potentially “faked” employee survey results?
 BOOK REVIEWS 801

In short, a theory of personality is necessary before faking can be

properly understood. As Hall and Hall state (p. 275), “[faking] scales
cannot tell the clinician what the motivations of the individual are.” Zickar
and Sliter’s chapter in this book claims that searching for faking is akin
to searching for unicorns, but faking may be more like the Loch Ness
monster. Anecdotal accounts have discussed the Loch Ness for centuries,
and actual data have been gathered for decades. One may reasonably not
believe that Nessie exists, of course, but both belief and disbelief require
data and theories regarding the data. One closes New Perspectives on
Faking in Personality Assessment wiser but still unsure whether Nessie is
out there or what to do about her.

REFERENCES

Griffith RL, Peterson MH. (2006). A closer examination of applicant faking behavior.
Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
Hogan J, Barrett P, Hogan R. (2007). Personality measurement, faking, and employment
selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1270–1285.
Kulik JA, Bangert-Drowns RL, Kulik CC. (1984). Effectiveness of coaching for aptitude
tests. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 179–188.
Stanovich KE. (2010). What intelligence tests miss: The psychology of rational thought.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
te Nijenhuis J, Voskuijl OF, Schijve NB. (2001). Practice and coaching on IQ tests: Quite
a lot of g. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 302–308.
Young MC. (2003, June). Effects of retesting on a new army measure of motivational
attributes: Implications for response distortion, test validity, and operational use.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Public Management
Association Assessment Council, Baltimore, MD.
802 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

BOOKS AND MATERIALS RECEIVED∗

Arthur, Winfred, Eric Anthony Day, Winston Bennett, Jr., & Antoinette M.
Portry (Editors). Individual and Team Skill Decay: The Science and Im-
plications for Practice. Routledge Academic, 2013. 464 pages, $69.95
hardcover.
Kostera, Monika. Organizations and Archetypes. Edward Elgar Publishing,
2012, 304 pages, $135.00 hardcover.
Locke, Edwin A., & Gary P. Latham (Editors). New Developments in Goal
Setting and Task Performance. Routledge Academic, 2013, 688 pages,
$85.00 hardcover.
Passmore, Jonathan, David B. Peterson, & Teresa Freire. The Wiley-Blackwell
Handbook of the Psychology of Coaching and Mentoring (2013). 552
pages, $199.95 hardcover.

∗
The publications listed are either already scheduled for review and/or are included
as a new listing. Readers interested in reviewing for Personnel Psychology are invited to
write our Book Review Editors Dr. Lee Konczak at konczak@wustl.edu or Dr. David E.
Smith at david.smith@easiconsult.com providing information about background and areas
of interest.

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