Elizabeth Anne Solberg

• Park, Jinkyun & Solberg, Elizabeth (2023). Development of detailed questions for investigating the status of human and organizational factor (HOF) issue identifications from event investigation processes. In Brito, Mario P.; Aven, Terje; Baraldi, Piero; Cepin, Marko & Zio, Enrico (Ed.), ESREL 2023 - Proceedings of the 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference : The Future of Safety in the Reconnected World, 3 – 7 September 2023, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Research Publishing Services. ISSN 978-981-18-8071-1. p. 733–740. doi: 10.3850/978-981-18-8071-1_P250-cd.
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Kwei-Narh, Prosper Ameh (2023). Human performance improvement tools and situation awareness in nuclear power plant outage work. In Brito, Mario P.; Aven, Terje; Baraldi, Piero; Cepin, Marko & Zio, Enrico (Ed.), ESREL 2023 - Proceedings of the 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference : The Future of Safety in the Reconnected World, 3 – 7 September 2023, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Research Publishing Services. ISSN 978-981-18-8071-1. doi: 10.3850/978-981-18-8071-1_P296-cd. Show summary

  Several human performance improvement tools (HPIs) are available to support the safe execution of work in scheduled maintenance outages in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Many can be conceived as “situation awareness tools” as they are intended to help outage workers form an accurate understanding of their task and surroundings and be sensitive to the presence of hazards and performance risks. Yet only a small selection of HPI tools have been explicitly linked to situation awareness. Furthermore, how these HPI tools improve situation awareness and, in turn, the safe execution of outage work, has not been thoroughly elaborated. In the present paper we address these limitations by conceptualizing how a broader range of HPI tools used in outages could prevent “situation awareness errors” in perceiving, comprehending, and projecting how a situation could develop. In doing so, we generate knowledge that can help NPP outage organizations and workers to make better decisions about the selection and use of HPI tools and direct future research on HPI tool usage and effectiveness.

• Solberg, Elizabeth; Nystad, Espen & McDonald, Robert (2022). Situation awareness in outage work – A study of events occurring in U.S. nuclear power plants between 2016 and 2020. Safety Science. ISSN 0925-7535. 158. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105965. Full text in Research Archive
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Adamska, Katarzyna; Wong, Sut I & Traavik, Laura E. Mercer (2022). When managers believe technological ability is fixed. Human Resource Management Journal. ISSN 0954-5395. p. 1–18. doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12478. Full text in Research Archive
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Bisio, Rossella (2022). Improving Learning by Adding the Perspective of Success to Event Investigations. In Leva, Maria Chiara; Patelli, Edoardo; Podofillini, Luca & Wilson, Simon (Ed.), Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2022). Research Publishing Services. ISSN 978-981-18-5183-4. p. 1196–1203. doi: 10.3850/978-981-18-5183-4_R21-06-407-cd.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Kaarstad, Magnhild; Eitrheim, Maren Helene Rø; Bisio, Rossella; Reegård, Kine & Bloch, Marten (2022). A Conceptual Model of Trust, Perceived Risk, and Reliance on AI Decision Aids. Group & Organization Management. ISSN 1059-6011. 47(2), p. 187–222. doi: 10.1177/10596011221081238. Full text in Research Archive
• Wong, Sut I; Solberg, Elizabeth & Traavik, Laura E. Mercer (2022). Individuals' fixed digital mindset, internal HRM alignment and feelings of helplessness in virtual teams. Information Technology and People. ISSN 0959-3845. doi: 10.1108/ITP-04-2021-0310. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose The present study investigates whether individuals having a fixed digital mindset (comprises fundamental beliefs about technological ability and organizational resources as work becomes more digitalized) experience greater helplessness working in virtual teamwork environments. The authors examine how perceived internal human resource management (HRM) alignment moderates the positive relationship expected between individuals' fixed digital mindset and feelings of helplessness. Together, the paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the personal and contextual factors that influence an individual's experience of helplessness in virtual team settings. Design/methodology/approach The authors test the hypotheses using time-lagged survey data collected from 153 information technology (IT) engineers working in virtual teams in Europe. Findings The authors find that individuals with higher levels of fixed digital mindset experience greater helplessness in virtual teamwork environments than individuals with lower levels. Furthermore, the authors find that having higher-fixed beliefs about organizational resources is positively related to helplessness when individuals perceive that the broader HRM system is misaligned with the virtual teamwork environment. Research limitations/implications The data were obtained from IT engineers in Europe, which is potentially limiting the generalizability of the authors' findings to other work contexts and cultures. Practical implications The authors' study helps leaders in virtual teamwork environments to better understand and manage the personal and contextual factors that could affect individuals' well-being and effective functioning in such settings. Originality/value The authors' research contributes to the scant literature investigating the personal characteristics important in virtual teamwork environments and the contextual factors important for aligning virtual teamwork designs with the organizational system. The authors extend this research by looking at personal and contextual factors together in a single model.

• Solberg, Elizabeth; Sverdrup, Therese E.; Sandvik, Alexander Madsen & Schei, Vidar (2021). Encouraging or expecting flexibility? How small business leaders’ mastery goal orientation influences employee flexibility through different work climate perceptions. Human Relations. ISSN 0018-7267. p. 1–26. doi: 10.1177/00187267211042538. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The employee flexibility desired in changing and uncertain business environments is amplified in small business settings. How can small business leaders facilitate the employee flexibility needed in this context? In the present study, we proposed that mastery goal-oriented leaders who are concerned with learning and competence development would create a work climate that promoted employee flexibility in their firms. We tested our hypotheses with multi-wave, multi-level data collected from leaders and employees in 141 small accounting firms in Norway. Findings revealed that leaders’ mastery goal orientation (MGO) was positively related to employee flexibility through a work climate that encouraged learning and development (a mastery climate). Yet, we also found that leaders’ MGO was negatively related to employee flexibility through a work climate that emphasized the expectations to be adaptive and flexible (an adaptability climate). Taken together, our study suggests that leaders’ mastery goal orientation may fuel employee flexibility when encouraging flexible-related behavior yet backfire when they signal that the same behavior is expected.

• Solberg, Elizabeth; Lai, Linda & Dysvik, Anders (2021). When Midway Won’t Do: The Curvilinear Relationship Between Intrinsic Motivation and Willingness to be Flexible. Journal of Managerial Psychology. ISSN 0268-3946. 36(2), p. 156–169. doi: 10.1108/JMP-02-2020-0107. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Intrinsic motivation is held as critical for employees’ willingness to be flexible (WTBF). Yet empirical research suggests that employees who find work intrinsically satisfying could resist work changes. In this study, we predict that the relationship between intrinsic motivation and employees’ WTBF will become more positive as intrinsic motivation advances beyond moderate levels. We also examine the role developmental supervisor support plays in generating the critical threshold of intrinsic motivation needed for it to be positively related with WTBF. Our study provides insight into how and when intrinsic motivation increases employees’ WTBF and into the degree of developmental support needed to facilitate a positive relationship between these variables.

• Solberg, Elizabeth; Traavik, Laura E. Mercer & Wong, Sut I (2020). Digital Mindsets: Recognizing and Leveraging Individual Beliefs for Digital Transformation. California Management Review. ISSN 0008-1256. 62(4), p. 105–124. doi: 10.1177/0008125620931839. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Employees’ beliefs about technological change, their “digital mindsets,” are likely to influence their engagement in, or withdrawal from, their company’s digital transformation initiatives. Employees’ beliefs regarding the malleability of personal ability (fixed/growth mindset) and their beliefs about the availability of situational resources (zero-sum/expandable-sum mindset) influence the extent to which they see new technologies as providing opportunities for professional growth or as encroaching on their ability to display competency. This article examines the implications for managing digital transformation.

• Solberg, Elizabeth; Lapointe, Émilie & Dysvik, Anders (2020). You care about me, but can I count on you? Applying a psychological contract perspective to investigate what makes employees willing to be internally employable. International Journal of Human Resource Management. ISSN 0958-5192. 31(9), p. 1157–1179. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2020.1737832. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  For this study, we adopted a psychological contract-based perspective to investigate whether the fulfillment of perceived developmental promises made to employees is positively related to their willingness to accept internal job-related changes when needed by the organization, a construct we refer to as the willingness to be internally employable. We also examined the role played by line managers in facilitating employees’ willingness to be internally employable by fulfilling perceived developmental promises. We tested our conceptual model with data collected from ninety-eight recently hired employees in a Norwegian organization under an initiative emphasizing employee development. We found that developmental promise fulfillment is more important for employees’ willingness to be internally employable in this context than any perceived provision of developmental inducements in isolation. Further, we found that employee perceptions of the developmental support provided by their line manager related positively to their willingness to be internally employable by way of developmental promise fulfillment; however, this was not the case with perceived developmental inducements. Our findings support the importance of developmental promise fulfillment in fostering employee willingness to be internally employable and the critical role played by line managers in fulfilling developmental promises that employees believe have been made by their organization.

• Wong, Sut I; Solberg, Elizabeth; Junni, Paulina & Giessner, Steffen Robert (2017). The role of human resource management practices in mergers & acquisitions. In Tarba, Shlomo Y.; Cooper, Cary L.; Sarala, Riikka M. & Ahammad, Mohammad F. (Ed.), Mergers and Acquisitions in Practice. Routledge. ISSN 9781138787780. p. 138–161.
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Wong, Sut I (2016). Crafting one's job to take charge of role overload: When proactivity requires adaptivity across levels. Leadership Quarterly. ISSN 1048-9843. 27(5), p. 713–725. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.03.001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The present study investigates employees' job crafting behavior in the context of perceived role overload, and identifies employees' perceived ability to deal with work change (i.e., “perceived adaptivity”) and leaders' need for structure as moderators positively influencing this relationship. A two-wave panel field study of 47 leaders and 143 employees in a Norwegian manufacturing firm found that perceived role overload related negatively to employees' job crafting, as hypothesized. Employees' perceived adaptivity alone did not increase job crafting in role overload situations, as predicted. Rather, the relationship between perceived role overload and job crafting was only positive when employees' perceived adaptivity was high and their leaders' need for structure was low. Thus, employees' job crafting in role overload situations depends on the interactive fit between employees' and leaders' adaptive capabilities. Implications for the socially embedded theory of job crafting and leadership practice are discussed.

• Solberg, Elizabeth & Dysvik, Anders (2016). Employees’ Perceptions of HR Investment and Their Efforts to Remain Internally Employable: Testing the Exchange-Based Mechanisms of the ‘New Psychological Contract’. International Journal of Human Resource Management. ISSN 0958-5192. 27(9), p. 909–927. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2015.1045008.
• Redmond, Elizabeth (2013). Competency models at work: the value of perceived relevance and fair rewards for employee outcomes. Human Resource Management. ISSN 0090-4848. 52(5), p. 771–792. doi: 10.1002/hrm.21560.

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• Wong, Sut I; Solberg, Elizabeth & Traavik, Laura E. Mercer (2021). Employee Mindset, HRM Misalignment, and Helplessness in Virtual Teams.
• Traavik, Laura E. Mercer; Solberg, Elizabeth & Wong, Sut I (2020). Mindset over matter: Moving beyond technology-centric models in the context of digital transformation.
• Ødegård, Bente Bang & Solberg, Elizabeth (2019). Motiverte ansatte er mer fleksible. [Business/trade/industry journal]. KLP-magazinet.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Traavik, Laura E. Mercer & Wong, Sut I (2019). Towards digital change: The importance of mindsets.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Traavik, Laura E. Mercer & Wong, Sut I (2019). When employees see digital transformation as a threat. BI Leadership Magazine.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Traavik, Laura E. Mercer & Wong, Sut I (2018). Hvordan vi tenker kan avgjøre om vi lykkes. Kapital. ISSN 0332-5423.
• Solberg, Elizabeth (2018). Developing adaptive performers. BI Leadership Magazine.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Traavik, Laura E. Mercer & Wong, Sut I (2018). Leveraging mindsets for digital change.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Traavik, Laura E. Mercer & Wong, Sut I (2018). Leveraging mindsets for digital change.
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Wong, Sut I (2017). Dealing with excessive job demands. BI Leadership Magazine.
• Solberg, Elizabeth (2017). Developing Adaptive Performers.
• Solberg, Elizabeth (2017). Coping with changing job demands: How learning goal orientation and developmental supervisor support enhance adaptive performance.
• Solberg, Elizabeth (2017). Learning to adapt: Examining a developmental process of adaptive performance and for whom it is more relevant.
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Lai, Linda (2016). When midway won’t do: the consequences of mediocre development support on employee flexibility.
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Wong, Sut I (2015). Crafting one’s job to cope with role overload: when proactivity requires adaptivity across levels. Presented in the symposium, “Proactivity at work: novel perspectives on effectiveness and social context,” chaired by K. Strauss and C. Uri.
• Solberg, Elizabeth & Dysvik, Anders (2015). Mastery support and employee flexibility: A goal-orientated perspective. Presented in the symposium, “Quality of motivation matters: on the importance of promoting autonomous and mastery oriented motivation in the workplace,” chaired by M. Gagné.
• Solberg, Elizabeth (2014). Competency models at work. BI Leadership Magazine.
• Solberg, Elizabeth (2012). Competency models at work: the value of perceived relevance and fair rewards for employee outcomes.
• Solberg, Elizabeth; Lai, Linda & Dysvik, Anders (2017). Adapting to changing job demands: A broadcast approach to understanding self-regulated adaptive performance and cultivating it in situated work settings. Handelshøyskolen BI. ISSN 978-82-8247-122-0.

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