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The great strength of this work, however, lies in its readability. This is a fun book . . . especially when reading about cultures in which one has lived or even visited. It will have real appeal for undergraduate and MBA students, and for managers. I think this is the sort of thing they will read and be willing to discuss at length. While it cannot be recommended as other than a supplement to more in-depth coverage of national cultures, that really does not detract from its ability to convey vivid images of a culture.

DAVID H. KENT Bowling Green State University,

Bowling Green, Ohio,

U.S.A.

International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology 1995, Volume 10 Cary L. Cooper and Ivan T. Robertson (Eds.), Wiley, Chichester, 1995.

I welcomed the opportunity to review the International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, not because of the occasion to arbitrate the knowledge contained therein, but rather to grind my own ax. That ax assumed the form of a not-so- subtle prejudice against such edited volumes. Like many of my colleagues, I believe that the various Review of . . . volumes have proliferated at an undisciplined pace that serves more to benefit individual careers than to advance the state of the field. Indeed, I suspected that such incautious propagation impeded disciplinary progress by erecting artificial territories that encouraged myopia and the pursuit of minutia a t the expense of the broad, integrative scholarship that applied psychology so direly needs.

My prejudices ran deeper still. Formally trained as an experimental social psycholo- gist, I cut my theoretical teeth on chapters from the venerable Handbook of Social Psychologj.. Since its inception, this series was propelled by an ethic that called upon contributors to rise to the occasion and write the most penetrating, complete, recent, clever and influential chapters possible. This was-and to a lesser extent continues to be---the font of social psychology’s collected wisdom; the arena where the very best social, personality and organizational scholars plied their trade with remarkable clarity and acumen. Even, today many of these chapters endure as classics that literally defined research direction for decades and undergirded developments in 1/0 and management science. Of course I have come across exceptional chapters from other series, but they seemed more the exception than the rule.

In short, then, even though I had not read a single chapter from the nine previous volumes of the International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology prior to being asked to write this review, I was predisposed against it, and set out to slay the quixotic windmills that in my mind surely lied within.

The ‘Editorial Foreword’ did little to dissuade my unfavorable prepossession. First, the editors offered no coherent theme to unify Volume 10 or distinguish it from previous volumes. Their stated aim: ‘to provide regular comprehensive and scholarly reviews of research and theory in major topics in IjO psychology’ (p. xi), although laudable, seemed uninspired as an organizing principle. Second, there was no sense of excitement as to the contribution of this particular volume of the series as a whole, leaving me as a time-pressed reader wondering why I should turn here for my surveys. Third, I learned that this series is international only inasmuch as the contributors are not exclusively denizens of the United States. Cross-cultural management (e.g. designing appraisal systems for foreign subsidiaries) is among the most pressing issues facing modern IjO psychology, and I was disappointed that this volume did not take as its charter the exploration of issues.

But as with all edited volumes, the proof is in the pudding, and my conversion began in earnest with chapter I . Here, Ford and Kraiger champion the inclusion of cognitive

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principles as measures of training transfer. They correctly diagnose the over-reliance on behavioral measures because of their efficiency and ease of employ. However, because training programs often purport to instill higher-order cognitive skills, trainers, and training researchers, should make a more concerted attempt to include cognitive constructs. The authors go deep into the cognitive literature to support their position, and although they stop short of specific recommendations, their chapter furnishes a solid foundation for more sophisticated training measures.

The title of chapter 2, ‘Determinants of Human Performance in Organizational Settings’ makes one giddy with anticipation. But as it turns out, Andrew Smith’s chosen purview is somewhat more limited than the title suggested. Still, it is a very readable and highly serviceable chapter that focuses on such elemental determinants of performance as the physical environment, consumption, and the like. In the human factors’ spirit, this chapter makes for a fine addition to the literature.

The real gem of this volume, at least in my eye, was Schneider and Hough’s ‘Personality and Industrial/Organizational Psychology (chapter 3). These authors provide a review of the often nebulous area of personality research that is exceptional for both its depth and its scope. Although Schneider and Hough proffer no especially lucid insights, the completeness of the review, in conjunction with the carefulness of its construction, makes this simply the best encapsulating chapter on this topic I have encountered. This chapter will become required reading for my doctoral students, as I recommended it should for yours.

Chapter 4 on managing diversity was not high on my list simply because the topic is so politically embroiled that I question the integrity of the supporting research. Nevertheless, Kandola, astutely sidesteps the less scientific overtones and organizes the chapter around six logically cumulative issues. The result is a balanced treatment of the major research and models that would efficiently initiate the uninitiated in unbiased fashion.

I was also impressed by Winefield’s chapter 5, ‘Unemployment: Its Psychological Costs’ This was an area of research I knew little about, but one that seemed ripe for the application of various psychological theories. Winefield begins with methodological issues, moves through central theories, and concludes with a section on empirical issues that could serve as a veritable compendium of relevant research. This is one of those chapters that I started as a novice, but finished as an authority; testimony, I think, to the Herculean referencing efforts of the author.

Chapter 6 by Bramwell and Cooper addressed the implications of prolonged use of visual display units (VDUs) in the workplace. This is injustifiably included in this volume because of the prevalence of VDUs and the plethora of anecdotes on their effects. The authors approach their review in concise, yet well-referenced fashion, and conclude that the effects of VDUs can hardly be disentangled from the broader psychosocial conditions of the job and the workplace.

‘The Organizational Implications of Teleworking’ (chapter 7) is perhaps the most timely contribution to this volume. The authors point out that teleworking is not the panacea its early advocates supposed it to be, and set to examining psychological, structural, managerial, technological and cultural factors that should moderate its effects. Their conclusion-that the implementation of teleworking needs to be under- stood as an alteration of the organizational system that can have far-reaching impact- is well-supported and reasoned. Personally, I felt the authors could have gone much deeper and drawn more distinct delineations and predictions, but given the infancy of research in the area, their caution is well-advised. All in all, this chapter lays some very firm groundwork for future research.

Chapter 8 on method variance constitutes this volume’s obligatory nod to the act, as opposed to the object or result, of inquiry. Typically, I find such chapters dry and only marginally informative. In contrast, Spector and Brannick go beyond the mere contain- ment orientation of most methodologists by proposing that the conventional conception of method variance as a universal impact that can be controlled through linear modeling is simply too limited. Instead the authors argue that any given method uniquely influences individuals. Although the authors do a good job supporting their conception, they never really acknowledge the hornet’s nest it upsets, or the potential for novel research paradigms it represents.

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The last chapter, ‘Developments in Eastern Europe and Work and Organizational Psychology’ (chapter 9) is the most international of the lot. Here, Roe links a remark- ably informative history of one of the world’s most turbulent regions to a series of significant implications for work. In the process, the reader is introduced to the vast literature on organizational psychology that emanatts from Eastern Europe, and posed with hard questions about the generalizability of Western notions to Eastern realities.

By the time I had read all nine chapters of this volume, my prejudice had dissipated; my incredulity converted. Prejudice is, of course, a very human response to a threaten- ingly uncertain world. But 1 am big enough to admit the error of my ways. In this volume of the Interriotionul Review o/’ Industrial and Organizotional Psjrhology, the editors assembled a representative mix of chapters written by a capable group of scholars, and the final result is a worthy contribution to cumulative knowledge of I/O psychology. Although some chapters were considerably stronger than others, and the international perspective not as prominent as I would have liked, on the whole this is a fine volume that will be prominently placed on my bookshelf. I shall eagerly anticipate future volumes, and will assuredly mine past ones.

JAMES BAILEY Rutgers University,

Newark, New Jersey,

U .S .A .