2016 honours and awards

Associate Professor Ronald Fischer awarded ‘Best Paper with International Implications’ award from the Academy of Management

The Academy is the preeminent professional association for management and organisation scholars worldwide. It was founded in 1936 and today has nearly 20,000 members in 115 countries. The award is sponsored by the Organizational Behavior Division and was presented at the annual Academy of Management Meeting in Anaheim, California.

The award is for a paper entitled 'Cultural Uncertainty as Moderator of the Organizational Formalization Puzzle'. The paper was the final study of a multi-national collaborative project that Ron initiated in 2002. Ron and his team of colleagues collected data from 267 organizations across 17 countries to investigate to what extent formal work practices facilitate or impede helping behaviour and creativity in business organisations.

The team found that in countries where there is great contextual uncertainty (economic instability, civil unrest, lack of functioning governmental institutions), organisations can increase positive work behaviours through greater formalisation of work procedures. This finding addresses a long-standing puzzle about the role of formalisation in the business and organisational psychology literature. The paper was also a finalist for the highly prestigious Carolyn Dexter Award.

CACR Deputy Director Dr Taciano Milfont awarded a Victoria University Research Excellence Award

Every year Victoria University gives out three prestigious research awards to its academics, and in 2016 Taciano was one of the three. The Awards Committee acknowledged the very high quality and productivity of Taciano and his research team across a broad range of collaborations. They particularly noted Taciano’s impressive level of national and international standing. The award was presented at Wellington's Parliament Buildings.