The establishment of measurement invariance across groups is a logical prerequisite to conducting substantive cross-group comparisons (e.g., tests of group mean differences, invariance of structural parameter estimates), but measurement invariance is rarely tested in organizational research. In this article, the authors (a) elaborate the importance of conducting tests of measurement invariance across groups, (b) review recommended practices for conducting tests of measurement invariance, (c) review applications of measurement invariance tests in substantive applications, (d) discuss issues involved in tests of various aspects of measurement invariance, (e) present an empirical example of the analysis of longitudinal measurement invariance, and (f) propose an integrative paradigm for conducting sequences of measurement invariance tests.

The purpose of this article is to present cutting-edge research on issues relating to the theory, design, and analysis of change. Rather than a highly technical review, our goal is to provide management scholars with a relatively nontechnical single source useful for helping them develop and evaluate longitudinal research. Toward that end, we provide readers with “checklists” of issues to consider when theorizing and designing a longitudinal study. We also discuss the trade-offs among analytic strategies (repeated measures general linear model, random coefficient modeling, and latent growth modeling), circumstances in which such methods are most appropriate, and ways to analyze data when one is using each approach.

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Using a second-order latent variable approach with 3,570 participants across 49 organizations, the current study examined the impact of high involvement work processes upon organizational effectiveness. Using a structural model of higher order influences, and taking into consideration mixed-level effects, the analyses supported a model in which a collection of organizational practices positively influenced high involvement work processes. In turn, the high involvement processes influenced organizational effectiveness (defined through return on equity [ROE] and turnover) both directly and indirectly through positive influence on employee morale. The implications of these findings for expanding this perspective of high involvement are presented as well as issues needing immediate attention in the research literature.

This paper presents an initial test and validation of a model of healthy work organization. A questionnaire based on the proposed model was completed by 1,130 employees of a national retailer. The instrument measured 29 first-order constructs underlying the six higher-order domains of the model. The overall model fit and relationships among the second-order factors were examined using AMOS structural equation-modelling procedures. The structural analyses presented here support the proposed model. An acceptable overall fit was demonstrated, and all second-order, and second-to first-order, relationships were significant. Employees' perceptions of their organization affect their perception of the climate, which impacts the way people relate to their job and see their future in the organization, ultimately impacting their work adjustment, health and well-being. This model has implications for both research and practice.

Recognizing that measurement invariance was rarely tested for in organizational research, and that it should be, Vandenberg and Lance elaborated on the importance of conducting tests of measurement invariance and proposed an integrative paradigm for conducting sequences of measurement invariance tests. Building on their platform, the current article addresses some of the shortcomings in our understanding of the analytical procedures. In particular, it points out the need to address (a) the sensitivity of the analytical procedures, (b) the susceptibility of the procedures to contextual influences, (c) how partial invariance affects the tests of substantive interest, and (d) the triggers or causes for not supporting invariance. In the hopes of stimulating further research on these topics, ideas are presented as to how this research may be undertaken.

Through the use of affective, normative, and continuance commitment in a multivariate 2nd-order factor latent growth modeling approach, the authors observed linear negative trajectories that characterized the changes in individuals across time in both affective and normative commitment. In turn, an individual's intention to quit the organization was characterized by a positive trajectory. A significant association was also found between the change trajectories such that the steeper the decline in an individual's affective and normative commitments across time, the greater the rate of increase in that individual's intention to quit, and, further, the greater the likelihood that the person actually left the organization over the next 9 months. Findings regarding continuance commitment and its components were mixed.