Organizational Research Laboratory
Dr. Joan R. Rentsch
Professor
413 Stokely Management Center
Phone: (865) 974-1671
Email: jrentsch@utk.edu
Dr. Rentsch interviewed on CNBC
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1586115454&play=1
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Industrial/Organizational Psychology, University of Maryland
M.A., Industrial/Organizational Psychology, University of Maryland
B.S., Psychology, The Ohio State University
EXPERIENCE & RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Rentsch’s research focus is on the psychological processes in organizations with a special focus on cognition in teams, cognition in organizations, and the measurement of cognition. In addition, she is interested in multicultural perspective-taking, workplace absence, person-environment fit, organizational climate/culture, and organizational behavior. Her published research appears in such journals as Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Organizational Research Methods. She is on the editorial boards of Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management Review. Dr. Rentsch is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and the Academy of Management. She is a founding partner of the Organizational Research Group and consults with private and public sector organizations. Dr. Rentsch’s professional experiences include Research Scientist at the United States Air Force Human Resources Laboratory, Visiting Associate Professor of Management at the University of Minnesota, Associate Professor of Psychology at Wright State University, and Instructor at the University of Maryland. She is currently serving on a Senior Advisory Panel on Leading Multinational Teams for the United States Army.
ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Take a look at the Innovative Technology Center's Faculty Spotlight featuring Dr. Rentsch's use of technology in her research conducted in the Organizationl Research Lab. |
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Check out some of Dr. Rentsch's current research in UT's College of Business Administration's Annual Report. Download the full review here. |
See the pictures from the Organizational Research Lab's Open House. |
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PRIMARY RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Team Cognition
Dr. Rentsch’s current research program on Team Cognition includes projects examining the relationships among team cognition (e.g., team member schema similarity, knowledge interoperability, schema accuracy, expertise), team processes (e.g., decision making, conflict, adaptability, emergent shared leadership, information sharing, group development), and team performance (e.g., quality, efficiency, effectiveness). This research program also investigates variables such as knowledge objects, trust, and team composition. Dr. Rentsch’s research is aimed at providing scientific foundations for technological developments supporting collaborative decision-making in situations characterized by such features as complex, dynamic, time sensitive, and multinational. Her research on Team Cognition is conducted in the laboratory and in the field. The Team Cognition research program is currently funded by The Office of Naval Research, and has been funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory and The University of Tennessee.
Multicultural Perspective-Taking
Dr. Rentsch’s research program on Multicultural Perspective-Taking involves defining and training multicultural perspective-taking competencies and investigating schemas from multiple cultures. Current projects involve developing measurements of perspective-taking and evaluating leadership and teamwork schemas in the United States and Romania.
Workplace Absence
Dr. Rentsch has collaborated with Dr. Robert Steel (University of Michigan) to study workplace absence. Their research has advanced the understanding of absenteeism in work organizations. They have addressed several measurement and theoretical issues using longitudinal research designs. Specifically, they have addressed questions regarding the role of various antecedents in the prediction of absence and cumulation strategies for long-range absenteeism.
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Graduate Students |
SAMPLE PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Papers co-authored by students working with Dr. Rentsch in the
Organizational Research Laboratory at The University of Tennessee
Underlined names are those of students.
Rentsch, J. R., Small, E. E., & Hanges, P. J. (in press). Cognitions in organizations and teams: What is the meaning of cognitive similarity? In B. Smith (Ed.), The people make the place. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rentsch, J. R., Delise, L. A., & Hutchison, S. (in press). Transferring meaning and developing cognitive similarity in decision making teams: Collaboration and meaning analysis process. In M. Letsky, N. Warner, C. Smith, S. Fiore, & E. Salas (Eds.) Macrocognition in teams.
Rentsch, J. R., Delise, L. A., & Hutchison, S. (in press). Team member schema accuracy and team member schema congruence: In search of the Team MindmeldTM. In E. Salas, G. F. Goodwin, & S. Burke (Eds.), Team effectiveness in complex organizations and systems: Cross-disciplinary perspectives. Edited volume in preparation for SIOP Organizational Frontier Series. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Rentsch, J. R., & Small, E. E. (2007). Understanding team cognition: The shift to cognitive similarity configurations. In F. J. Yammarino & F. Dansereau (Eds.), Research in Multi-level Issues, Vol. 6, 159-174.
Steel, R. P., Rentsch, J. R., & Van Scotter, J. R. (2007). Timeframes and absence frameworks: A test of Steers and Rhodes’ (1978) model of attendance. Journal of Management, 33(2), 180-195.
Rentsch, J. R., & Davenport, S. W. (2006). Sporting a new view: Team member schema similarity in sport teams. International Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychology, 4(4), 401- 422.
Rentsch, J. R. (2007). Giving psychology to business and giving the business to psychology. In M. Marks (Chair), Psychologists working in business schools. Symposium presented to the American Psychological Association, August 18, 2007, San Francisco, California.
Rentsch, J. R., Delise, L. A., & Letsky, M. P. (2007). Improving cognitive congruence and knowledge interoperability in decision making teams. Paper presented to the INGRoup: Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research 2nd Annual Conference, July 2007, East Lansing, MI.
Rentsch, J. R., Gundersen, A., Abbe, A., Gulick, L. (2007). Multicultural perspective-taking competencies. In G. F. Goodwin (Chair), Swimming in global waters: Integrating culture into interpersonal performance. Symposium presented to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, May 2007, New York, New York.
Rentsch, J. R. (2007). {Served as Discussant.} In C. S. Burke & G. F. Goodwin (Chairs), Shared cognition: Delving into metrics (an examination of measurement methodologies). Symposium presented to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, May 2007, New York, New York.
Delise, L. A., Gorman, C. A., Rentsch, J. R., Small, E. E., Bergman, J. Z., & Rush, M. C. (May 2007). The effects of ILT accuracy on LMX and work outcomes. Paper presented to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, May 2007, New York, New York.
Davenport, S. W., Rentsch, J. R., Small, E. E., & Bergman, J. Z. (2007, April). Information sharing and schema accuracy in team decision making. Paper presented to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, May 2007, New York, New York.
Smith, A. D., & Rentsch, J. R. (2007). Examining the discovery process within our research team: Insights for team literatures. Proceedings of the International Conference of ISEOR and Research Methods Division of the Academy of Management, (p. 913-925). University Jean Moulin Lyon 3 (France), Lyon, France. Presented 26 to 28 March, 2007
Bowler, M. C., Woehr, D. J., & Rentsch, J. R. (2006). The impact of aggressive individuals on team training. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
Rentsch, J. R., & Delise, L. A. (2006). Adaptation to multinational teamwork in networked environments. In C. J. Resick & L. A. DeChurch (Co-Chairs). Team adaptation to environmental forces: Current research and theory. Symposium presented to the 21st Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, May 2006, Dallas, Texas.
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Graduate Students at Work in the Organizational Research Laboratory |
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
Team Member Schema Similarity
The notion of team member schema similarity (TMSS; Rentsch & Hall, 1994) refers to the degree to which team members have some form of similarity in their knowledge structures for organizing and understanding team-related phenomena. Two fundamental forms are team member schema congruence and team member schema accuracy. The degree of team member schema congruence refers to the match between team members' schemata in content and/or structure. Team member schema accuracy refers to the degree to which team members’ schemata are similar to pre-specified target values or “true scores.” Thus, schema congruence reflects the degree of match in cases where there is no target or “correct” value, whereas schema accuracy reflects the degree of overlap in cases where a “true score” or target value exists.
This work has attracted consistent funding from The Office of Naval Research, Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The focus of this work has been primarily on the measurement of TMSS and applying techniques not previously used to assess cognition in teams (e.g., repertory grid, multidimensional scaling analysis, pathfinder, ethnographic methods, concept mapping, and the social relations model). Dr. Rentsch’s most recent work supported by the Office of Naval Research centers on new measures of team cognition and the integration of technology and TMSS in understanding team decision-making.
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Team Data Collection in the Organizational Research Laboratory |
Quantitatively Assessing Qualitative Differences in Meaning
A primary theme in Dr. Rentsch’s research is the examination of measurement methodologies for quantitatively assessing qualitative differences in meaning and the degree to which meaning is similar across individuals. For example, she highlighted meanings in organizations by integrating components of the climate and culture literatures to test a fundamental but previously untested assumption using network analysis and multidimensional scaling.
Other Areas of Research Interest
Other topics of interest include organizational climate and culture, training, self-concepts, mergers and acquisitions, and leadership.
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