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Patrick Nelson

Research student

Current research

Does Person-Organisation Fit have an Impact on Organisational Performance

My research interests focus on the effects of "fit" on organisational outcomes. Research on Person-Environment (PE) fit, described as the match between a person and its work environment, has mainly focused on the outcomes of fit for the individual. This study wishes to investigate what kind of outcomes PE fit may have for an organisation. One way of looking at PE fit is the focus on similarity of attributes and attitudes between employees. "Birds of a feather flock together" is a commonly known proverb which rings true for a lot of people in their everyday life. This intriguing notion has also triggered decades of research as a means to explore, whether the proverb could also be supported by empirical research. It may come as no surprise that it seems that people feel indeed attracted to similar individuals. My study investigates the proposition of the Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) framework by Schneider. The ASA framework postulates that an organisation becomes more and more homogenous in terms of the attributes and attitudes of its employees. This increasing homogeneity creates a groupthink mentality among its members that leads to the positioning of the organisation in a constricted market niche. The framework also suggests that homogeneity endangers organisational survival because of the reduced ability to adapt to environmental changes. It is hoped that the outcomes of the study will not only contribute to our body of literature within the field but that it also helps organisations to make informed decisions when recruiting new employees.

Supervisors

Publications

Journal papers
van Ameijde, JD, Nelson, PC, Billsberry, J, van Meurs, N  (2009)  'Improving leadership in Higher Education institutions: a distributed perspective', 3rd Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Human Resource Management Network Conference, Tobago, 21-23 MayHigher Education, vol. 58, issue 6, pp. 763-779. Abstract
Book chapters
van Ameijde, JD, Nelson, PC, van Meurs, N, Billsberry, J  (2008)  'Distributed leadership in project teams', Turnbull-James, K and Collins, J (eds) Leadership Perspectives: knowledge into action, London, Palgrave Macmillan.
Billsberry, J, Nelson, PC  (2008)  'The impact of individualism on the outcome of penalty shoot-outs in international football tournaments', Reilly, T and Korkusuz, F (eds) Science and Football VI, Oxford, Routledge, pp. 169-173.
Conference papers
Nelson, PC, Billsberry, J  (2008)  'The ASA framework as rhetoric', 2nd Global e-Conference on Fit.
Nelson, PC, Billsberry, J  (2008)  'Does value homogeneity influence organisational performance?', British Academy of Management annual conference, Harrogate.
Nelson, PC, Billsberry, J  (2007)  'Exploring the impact of person-organisation fit on organisational performance', British Academy of Management Annual Conference, Warwick, 11-13 September.
Other
Billsberry, J, Talbot, D, Nelson, PC, Edwards, JA, Godrich, SG, Davidson, RAG, Carter, JP  (2010)  'The People Make the Place: Dynamic Linkages Between Individuals and Organizations edited by D. Brent Smith', Personnel Psychology, vol. 63, issue 2, pp. 483-487.
Billsberry, J, Edwards, JA, Talbot, D, Nelson, PC, Davidson, RAG, Godrich, SG, Marsh, PJG  (2009)  'Review of Perspectives on Organizational Fit by Cheri Ostroff and Timothy A. Judge (Editors)', Personnel Psychology, vol. 62, issue 4, pp. 880-883.