ambiguity tolerance

• Examining Tolerance for Ambiguity in the Domain of Educational Leadership

The tolerance for ambiguity (or intolerance for ambiguity) construct relates to a person's disposition or tendency in addressing uncertain situations. Research literature has pointed out that tolerance for ambiguity (TFA) or intolerance for ambiguity (INTFA) influences an individual's behavior, which in turn affects leadership style and decision making process. While studies in multiple fields (e.g., business, medicine) have addressed the value of understanding a person's level of TFA, little information can be found in its application to school administrators, e.g., principals. This research advances the study of the TFA construct in the domain of educational leadership through the development of a scale for use with prospective and practicing school administrators. A sample of 326 ear...

• Academy of Educational Leadership Journal
• Vol. 13 Nbr. 2, May 2009

• General Risk Propensity in Multifaceted Business Decisions: Scale Development*

Extant scales for risk propensity are confined to specific decision contexts, lending them less applicable to multifaceted business decisions where decision-making agents' general risk propensity across different aspects of the decisions can be an important determinant. To fill this gap, this study developed a scale that measures general risk propensity of decision-making agents and can be applicable to multifaceted business decisions. The scale development approach used in this study was based on Hinkin's (1998) guideline for survey scale development. A five-item general risk propensity scale was developed, then assessed on its reliability and unidimensionality, and further validated through its correlation with other context-specific risk propensity scales and with conceptually relate...

... social aspects with a high level of ambiguity. For example, regarding decision-making in new pro... Propensity, Openness, and Ambiguity Tolerance. Besides risk propensity, there are other characte...

• Journal of Managerial Issues; JMI
• Vol. 22 Nbr. 1, April 2010

• The ambiguity tolerance interface: a modified social cognitive model for leading under uncertainty.

This paper proposes a modification of McCormick's (2001) self-regulatory leadership confidence model by including an intervening variable referred to ...

• Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies
• Vol. 10 Nbr. 3, January 2004

• The effect of auditor attestation and tolerance for ambiguity on commercial lending decisions.

What influences loan officers more: facts or feelings? When commercial lending officers make a loan decision, are they able to distinguish among dif...

• Journal of Accountancy
• Vol. 191 Nbr. 1, January 2001

• Taking a Trait Approach to Understanding College Students' Perceptions of Group Work

This study examined whether college students' perceptions of the positive and negative attributes of group work are associated with their tolerance for ambiguity, tolerance for disagreement, conversational sensitivity, and cognitive flexibility. Participants were 192 undergraduate students who completed a series of quantitative measures referencing their feelings toward group work and their communicative and personality traits. Results indicated that (a) students' perceptions of the positive attributes of group work were correlated positively with tolerance for ambiguity, tolerance for disagreement, conversational sensitivity, and cognitive flexibility and (b) students' perceptions of the negative attributes of group were correlated positively with conversational sensitivity. Future res...

• College Student Journal
• Vol. 43 Nbr. 3, September 2009

• Entrepreneur Characteristics and Management Control: Contingency Influences On Business Performance

Past research does not reveal much about whether and how entrepreneur characteristics (experience, level of tolerance for ambiguity, and self-efficacy) and management control (planning, internal and customer orientation) influence the entrepreneur's honing and enterprising actions, and ultimately a firm's performance. In a study of 162 firms, we found these factors important; however, the contingent influence of environmental uncertainty, task complexity, and strategic competence determine, to a large degree, which factors are relevant to consider. We elaborate upon this complexity and note a need for further research in this area.

• Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship
• Vol. 20 Nbr. 1, March 2008

• Managing Risk with a Cultural Perspective

If you have taken any multicultural communication courses in school you most likely would have come across Geert Hofstede and his famous study of IBM employees around the world that found that a person's risk appetite can differ depending on where he or she is from. From this study, Hofstede developed what he called the Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), which measures a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity -- in other words, its appetite for risk. The results show that uncertainty appetites differ across the world's cultures. By examining two countries (US and Japan), each representing opposite ends of the UAI scale, an organization can better understand how different cultures relate to risk and customize the risk management approach to the host country's cultural risk app...

• Risk Management; New York
• Vol. 56 Nbr. 10, December 2009

• Relationship Between Noctcaelador and Aesthetic Sensitivity: Art-Related Personality Factors Associated with College Students' Night-Sky Watching

This study explored the relationship between positive attitudes and behaviors concerning night-sky watching (noctcaelador) and aesthetic sensitivity. College students (N = 106) completed the Noctcaelador Inventory (Kelly, 2004a) and a shortened version of the Sensitivity Questionnaire (Child, 1965). Noctcaelador was significantly, positively related to regression in service to the ego, environmental scanning, and tolerance of ambiguity. Regression analyses indicated regression in service to the ego was the strongest predictor of noctcaelador. The results and limitations are discussed.

• College Student Journal
• Vol. 42 Nbr. 2, June 2008

• Wanted: Fully Engaged, Learning-Agile People

As organizations become truly global and operate in the evolving "Future of Work," it will be essential to move beyond simplistic, traditional staffing approaches. Thus it is imperative to align staffing practices with critical business strategies. The demand for competent and experienced leaders is growing rapidly, and to succeed, organizations will need to identify and hire that talent wherever it exists. Organizations today, more than ever, need employees who are open, willing to learn and flexible enough to execute complex strategies. They need leaders who are curious about the world, quick to learn, thrive on new challenges and experiences. In addition, those leaders also must possess a high tolerance for ambiguity, great people skills, a vision and innovation. In other words, empl...

• HR. Human Resource Planning
• Vol. 31 Nbr. 4, October 2008

• The Hunt for the Heffalump Continues: Can Trait and Cognitive Characteristics Predict Entrepreneurial Orientation?

In this paper, we aimed to get more insight into what typifies Flemish entrepreneurs. Therefore, we compared entrepreneurs with non-entrepreneurs for five characteristics (tolerance for ambiguity, self-efficacy, proactive personality, locus of control, need for achievement) and for cognitive styles. Additionally, we used these trait and cognitive characteristics to predict variances in entrepreneurial orientation (EO). We found that entrepreneurs (n = 177) score significantly higher on all traits than non-entrepreneurs (n = 60). For the cognitive styles (measured with the Cognitive Style Indicator), we found that non-entrepreneurs score higher on the knowing and planning style. No differences were found for the creating style. With regard to the link between the entrepreneur's profile a...

• Journal of Small Business Strategy
• Vol. 18 Nbr. 2, October 2007