Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge

by Fred Luthans, Carolyn M. Youssef, Bruce J. Avolio

Although there are as many answers to the question of how organizations can gain competitive advantage in today's global economy as there are books and experts, one lesson seems very traditional answers and resources are no longer sufficient. This seminal book offers not only an answer
regarding how to gain competitive advantage through people, but also a brand new, untapped human resource--psychological capital, or simply PsyCap. Generated from both the positive psychology movement and the authors' pioneering work on positive organizational behavior, PsyCap goes beyond
traditionally recognized human and social capital. But PsyCap is not a vague or unscientific to be included in PsyCap, a given positive construct must be based on theory, research, and valid measurement, must be open to development, and must have measurable performance impact. The positive
constructs that have been determined to best meet these PsyCap criteria, efficacy (confidence), hope, optimism, and resiliency, are covered in separate chapters in Psychological Capital. After exploring other potential positive constructs such as creativity, wisdom, well being, flow, humor,
gratitude, forgiveness, emotional intelligence, spirituality, authenticity, and courage, the authors summarize the research demonstrating the performance impact of PsyCap. They go on to provide the PsyCap Questionnaire (PCQ) as a measurement tool, and the PsyCap Intervention (PCI) as a development
aid. Utility analysis indicates that investing in the development of PsyCap as presented in this book can result in a very substantial return. In total, Psychological Capital provides theory, research, measurements, and methods of application for the new resource of psychological capital, a
resource that can be developed and sustained for competitive advantage.

Genres: Psychology, Business

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sarah]

يكي از مباحث بسيار جذاب در حوزه روانشناسي مثبت گرا وارتباط آن با سازمان ها كه اولين بار توسط فرد لوتانز با عنوان سرمايه روانشناختي مطرح شد.
معرفي كتاب در اينجا :
www.sarahhaghbin.com
و مقاله اي در همين خصوص با عنوان "سازمان هاي سرمايه دار" ارائه كردم كه در شماره آذر و دي ماهنامه سپيده دانايي چاپ شده است.

[Doug Gray]

Luthans gave words and scientific context to what I have known for decades. The next challenge for those of us who are passionate about applied positive psychology will be to get this science into the hands of learners. That gap between what psychologists know and what practitioners do is vast. My current research and digital content at www.action-learning.com is a start.

[Carolyn]

A technically-minded manual written for professionals rather than the general public; has some well-worded explanations for the concepts and terms covered. Dense and citation-heavy reference resource.