“Adopt or Avoid the Risky Behaviors Modeled before You? A Longitudinal Study on Newcomer Heavy Drinking with Clients” by Dr. Songqi LIU
MANAGEMENT SEMINAR
Speaker:
Dr. Songqi LIU
Assistant Professor
Department of Managerial Sciences
J. Mack Robinson College of Business
Georgia State University
Abstract:
Newcomers in many occupations face the choice to adopt work behaviors that, while perhaps helping them meet role demands and organizational objectives, may also place themselves and/or their organization at significant risks. The current organizational literature, however, offers little insight into the nature and predictors of this choice beyond the peer modeling effect. Using heavy drinking with clients as an empirical referent and drawing on a broader and more nuanced learning perspective, we examine contextual variables moderating the effect of veteran peer modeling on newcomer risky behavior adoption patterns over time. Data from a longitudinal study of newcomers, their veteran coworkers, and supervisors in sales and client-service teams, indicate that the extent to which veteran peer modeling influences the likelihood that newcomers exhibit an adoption versus avoidance trajectory of heavy drinking with clients is attenuated by their previous work experiences and veteran peer, but not supervisor, guidance.
