Tschan, Franziska

2007, Elfering, Achim, Semmer, Norbert, Tschan, Franziska, Kälin, Wolfgang, Bucher, Adrian

A sample of 423 Swiss job entrants reported major change in general, as well as positive and negative work experiences one, two, and four years after finishing vocational training. Qualitative data analysis showed change in responsibility, increase in decision latitude, acquisition of new status (professional work status, full team member status), increased salary, and change in work rhythm to be characteristic for the transition from apprenticeship into "real work". In terms of costs and benefits participants reported transition-specific combinations of work experiences, with responsibility and social recognition as positive experiences combined with high demands as negative experiences. Reports of increasing demands and task intensity were frequent throughout the first four years of job experience. Cooperation and social exchange always were of major concern, both as positive and negative experiences. The number of positive and negative experiences reported predicted job satisfaction over and above previous job satisfaction, background variables, stressors, and resources. Results point to a rather smooth transition, in which negative experiences are embedded in, and outweighed by, positive ones. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2002, Tschan, Franziska

The relationship between the quality of communication cycles and performance was tested for triad and dyads, and the relationship between thought cycles and performance was tested for individuals. High-quality cycles conform to an ideal structure. This means that they start with action preparatory functions (orientation or planning) and end with the evaluation of a behavior performed. It was hypothesized that quality of cycles predicts performance above and beyond other process variables. For triads, a significant amount of additional variance in performance was explained by cycle quality after accounting for the effect of number of cycles communicated and cycle length (Study 1). The main findings are replicated for dyads (Study 2). In Study 3, individual actors performing the same task were asked to think aloud, and the protocols were analyzed in the same manner as group communication. Again, quality of thought cycles was related to higher performance,indicating similar functions of thinking for individual action and of communication for groups.

1995, Tschan, Franziska

This study tested the hypothesis that the quality of task-related communication is related to group productivity. The flow of communication was divided into cycles of related communication during which group members talked about the same part of the task. On the basis of concepts of action regulation, it was postulated that an ideal cycle should start with a communication referring to task preparation - that is, orienting or planning - and should end with an evaluation. Twelve groups of three students each worked on a construction task for 35 min. The task involved both strategic and manual task requirements. High- and low-performing groups (median split) were compared with regard to the amount of orientation, planning, and evaluation, as well as quality of communication cycles. As predicted, high-performing groups showed a higher proportion of ideal communication cycles.