GWSB Graduate Student Meet & Greet

Jorge Walter

Excited to be part of our next Graduate Student Meet & Greet at the George Washington University School of Business. At this event series, panels of graduate students, alumni, faculty and staff listen to a topical conversation between GWSB alumni and faculty scholars and then reflect on the discussion in small break out groups. This event’s conversation topic is “Dispelling Myths About Strategic Networking: Evidence from Theory and Practice,“ and I am teaming up with Christine Ayers, who is a partner and account leader in Guidehouse.

If networking is so important for our careers, why do we have mixed feelings about it, and why do we often find it difficult to do? In this workshop, we draw on both recent research and a wealth of practical experience to dispel common myths about networking and offer a step-by-step guide to strategic networking. We share insights on how to network smarter, not harder, by taking an investor’s perspective on networking.

For more information on this event, please see our website.

Think Again (2021)

Jorge Walter
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” —Bertrand Russell

With misinformation, fake news, and strong believers all around us, Adam Grant provides a research-based recipe to help us change our minds (and maybe even those of others).

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2012)

Jorge Walter
At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. 

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.

New Article Published in JMS

Jorge Walter

An article coauthored with Markus Kreutzer & Karin Kreutzer (both at EBS Universität) has just been published in the Journal of Management Studies:

Setting the Tone for the Team: A Multi-Level Analysis of Managerial Control, Peer Control, and their Consequences for Job Satisfaction and Team Performance

In this study, we develop a multi-level theoretical framework linking antecedents and outcomes of peer control, defined as team members at the same hierarchical level noticing and responding to their peers’ behaviour or performance. Analysing multi-level data from 356 volunteers and 58 regional teams in a non-profit organization, we examine top-down managerial controls as antecedents of lateral peer control, both directly (i.e., monitoring and responding directly to peers) and indirectly (i.e., gossiping about and avoiding underperforming peers), and peer control’s effects on individual- and team-level outcomes. In line with our predictions, we find formal managerial control and clan control to be antecedents of peer control, albeit with differential effects on direct and indirect peer control. We also find a significant association between peer control and both individual-level job satisfaction and team-level performance, but again, with crucial differences between the two types of peer controls and the two outcomes. Our study contributes to the development of a better theoretical understanding of peer control, sheds light on inconsistent findings across prior studies, provides novel insights into how team leaders can influence team members’ individual satisfaction and team-level performance via peer control, and reveals important trade-offs with regards to peer control’s influence on individual-
and team-level outcomes.

Keywords: formal and informal (clan) control, job satisfaction, multi-level analysis, non-profit organizations, organizational control, peer control, team performance, volunteers

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy (2017)

Jorge Walter
Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead.