Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, Vol. 19, Iss. 4, October, 2015, pp. 529-552 @2015 Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences Healthy Variability in Organizational Behavior: Empirical Evidence and New Steps for Future Research Abstract: The healthy variability thesis suggests that healthy systems function
in a complex manner over time. This thesis is well-established in fields like physiology.
In the field of organizational behavior, however, this relation is only starting to be explored.
The objective of this article is threefold: First, we aim to provide a
comprehensive review of the healthy variability thesis including some of the
most important findings across different fields, with a focus on evidences
from organizational research in work motivation and performance.
Second, we discuss an opposite pattern, unhealthy stability,
i.e., the relationship between unhealthy behaviors and lower variability.
Again, we provide evidence from diverse areas, from affective processes to
disruptive organizational comportments like mobbing. Third, we provide a
critical evaluation of current methodological trends and highlight what
we believe to be the main factors that are stopping organizational research
from advancing in the field. Theoretical, methodological and epistemological implications
are discussed. To conclude, we draw a compilation of the lessons learned, which
hopefully provide insights for prolific research avenues. Our main purpose is to
raise awareness of the healthy variability thesis and to enthuse organizational researchers
to consider it in order to advance existing knowledge, revisit old theories and
create new ones. Keywords: healthy variability, organizational research, organizational behavior, unhealthy stability |