SummaryIncreased job complexity and autonomy have often been associated with improved performance in work groups. This study examines the mediating effect of group cohesiveness. The moderating effects of individualism/collectivism on the relationship between job characteristics (both complexity and autonomy) and cohesiveness are also tested. The sample consists of 381 teams drawn from the Hong Kong and U.S. branches of an international bank. The findings indicate that an increase in job complexity and/or task autonomy will increase group cohesiveness, which subsequently translates to better performance. The positive effects of job complexity and autonomy on group cohesiveness are also found to be more prominent for individualistic rather than collectivistic work groups. The theoretical implications of the results and the limitations of the study are also discussed.

Individuals' participation in organizational change is crucial to the success of a change initiative. We propose that such participation is based on three aspects of individual change schemas: change salience, change valence, and change inference. We further propose that the core discussion network of individuals may moderate the relationships between their change schemas and their participation in change. Using a sample of employees from a major casino operation in Macau, which suddenly faced intense competition after enjoying a 40-year monopoly, this study empirically examines how individuals' change schemas, participation in change, and core discussion network are related. The results support most of the hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

We develop a model of new product development which may inform decision-making on innovation and knowledge management in this paper. The new model combines extant theoretical framework and actual practice from a leading Food and Beverage chain in Hong Kong to illustrate how evidence-based management (EBM) can be practiced in new product development. Some salient features of the model include generating new ideas constantly, improving success rate of new ideas, and ensuring collaboration among internal functions. This paper showcases EBM by synthesizing theoretical knowledge and practical wisdom and bringing together academics and practitioners to better understand a new product development model that can be generalized to other companies and industries.

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