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Generation Is a Culture Construct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2015

Kyle E. Brink ,
Marcel M. Zondag  and
Jeffrey L. Crenshaw
Kyle E. Brink*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University
Marcel M. Zondag
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University
Jeffrey L. Crenshaw
Affiliation:
Centrus Personnel Solutions
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kyle E. Brink, Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, 1903 West Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5429. E-mail: [email protected]
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Extract

Costanza and Finkelstein (2015) question whether there really are generational differences in the workplace. They argue that the generation construct is not properly operationalized (often confounding age, period, and cohort factors) and that generational research is atheoretical and plagued by methodological problems. We agree that generational research is largely guilty as charged. We also share their concern regarding the generationally based interventions that are being sold to, and adopted by, managers—interventions that are often little more than fads based on popular myths and folklore. We are also in full agreement with the potential significant harm that can be associated with stereotyping groups of individuals.

Type
Commentaries
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 2015 , pp. 335 - 340
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2015 

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