The Oxford Handbook of Individual Differences in Organizational Contexts

Individual differences represent one of the oldest research areas within psychology and serve as the ’nature’ component critical for understanding human behaviour. This domain’s constructs have long been applied in organizational spheres, including organizational behaviour, organizational psychology, managerial psychology, personnel psychology, leadership, and management. As a result, there exists a vast body of literature exploring the role of individual differences in organizational settings.

The Oxford Handbook of Individual Differences in Organizational Contexts reviews the individual differences, paying attention both to psychological differences (e.g., personality traits, dark personality traits, intelligence types, self-monitoring, chronic regulatory focus) and biological/physiological differences (e.g., sex, age, facial morphology, genetic differences, neurological differences). In doing so, it serves two purposes. First, it aims to help decrease fragmentation in the field, and facilitate discussions among different streams of research within this literature. Secondly, it aims to render this literature more accessible to academics and students wishing to deepen their understanding of individual differences.

Comprising twenty-six chapters authored by fifty-seven esteemed academics, this book facilitates readers in comprehending the key findings, questions, and future research areas of individual differences research in organizational contexts. This book can be of interest also to practitioners that need a deep understanding of individual differences, such as HR managers and recruiters.

Aybars Tuncdogan is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Marketing & Technology at King’s Business School, King’s College London. Prior to joining King’s College London, he served as a Lecturer in Marketing & Strategy at Cardiff University and completed his PhD at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. His research incorporates psychological constructs - particularly those from the traits and individual differences literature - with the aim of understanding, predicting, and shaping the strategic decisions of individuals and collectives, such as teams and organizations. He is also interested in the joint application of artificial intelligence and individual difference constructs within organisational contexts.

Oguz A. Acar is Professor of Marketing & Innovation at King’s Business School, King’s College London. He is also a Research Affiliate at Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard University, an Expert at World Economic Forum and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was recently named a World’s Top 40 Business School Professors Under 40. His research is published in leading journals including Harvard Business Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Marketing Research, Psychological Science and Research Policy. He received several grants (worth £1M+) and was featured in popular outlets including Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune and Wired.

Henk W. Volberda is Professor of Strategy & Innovation at Amsterdam Business School of the University of Amsterdam and Director of the Amsterdam Centre for Business Innovation. He is also a member of the supervisory board of NXP Semiconductors Netherlands and Apollo Tyres Netherlands, member of the scientific advisory committee of the Netherlands Defence Academy, expert member of the World Economic Forum, and a fellow of the European Academy of Management. Previously, he was vice-dean of the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University and chair of the Department Strategic Management, board member of the Netherlands Centre for Social Innovation and Vice-President Research of the European Academy of Management (EURAM).

Ko de Ruyter is Professor of Marketing and Vice Dean, Research at King’s Business School. His research focuses on customer loyalty, marketing strategy, technology on the organizational frontline and social media. He has published widely in flagship academic business journals, such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research and Management Science. For his leadership in the academic research community, Professor de Ruyter has been awarded a life-time achievement by the American Marketing Association. He also has proven experience in working closely with decision-makers in the private and public sectors, consulting on the challenges and opportunities that they face.