(May 14, 2020 – Chandler, AZ) – Trident Ph.D. in Business Administration graduate Dr. Julita Haber has published the paper, “Perceptions of Competency Norms in the Workplace: A Scale Development,” in the April 2020 issue of the Drake Management Review. This paper is based on her doctoral research at Trident.
Competency-based assessment has become a key basis for human resource decisions in organizations. As a result, employees may feel pressure based on organizational norms to portray themselves as highly competent, which can have negative consequences.
Until now there has been no valid and reliable way to measure employee perceptions or the extent to which they feel such pressure. Therefore in her research, Dr. Haber developed and validated a way to measure employees’ perceptions of competency norms in the workplace based on a diverse sample of more than 600 working professionals.
Dr. Haber found four conditions that may elicit competency norms in the workplace: toward profession, toward stakeholders (such as one’s boss), when competent, and when incompetent.
Based on the research findings and given the limited academic research on this topic, Dr. Haber and her coauthors recommend additional research on individual perceptions of competency norms. Potential future research could examine other norm conditions, like targeting co-workers or subordinates, or prescriptive behaviors, such as being seen as incompetent.
Dr. Stephen Fitzgerald, Trident’s Director of Faculty Development, Dr. Kanu Priya of Missouri State University, and Dr. Robyn Brouer of Canisus College served as co-authors on this paper.
Dr. Priya and Dr. Haber started to explore a research collaboration while still in their respective doctoral programs, after meeting at an Academy of Management conference. Dr. Fitzgerald served as Dr. Haber’s dissertation chairperson and mentor.
“Dr. Fitzgerald has had a profound impact on my career,” states Dr. Haber. “He introduced me to research conferences where I developed important networks of scholars to supplement my online learning. It was essential for my career in academia. He was an amazing advisor who pushed me to pursue a scholarly path, embrace academic rigor, and develop deep theoretical thinking.”
Dr. Haber currently serves as the Director, Full-time MBA Program and Clinical Assistant Professor at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business in New York. During her time there, she has been recognized with the Dean’s Award for Faculty Visibility and Dean’s Award for Teaching Innovation.
Dr. Haber earned a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Trident. She also holds a Master of Science in Management from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from New York University.
About Trident at AIUFounded in 1998, Trident at American InterContinental University (Trident) is part of an online postsecondary university serving adult learners. Trident uses the EdActive™ learning approach, which employs case-based learning in an online setting to teach real-world relevant critical thinking skills designed to enhance the lives and education of students. Trident offers quality associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs and certificates, led by a qualified faculty team, over 80% of whom have doctoral degrees. Trident is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org) and has more than 22,000 alumni with a military affiliation. The University has received multiple acknowledgements from Washington Monthly, Military Times, and Military Advanced Education & Transition for their dedication to student success. Visit www.trident.edu, Trident’s Facebook page, or call at to learn more about Trident's wide range of educational options.
