Bradford Bell

Overview

Bradford S. Bell is the William J. Conaty Professor in Strategic Human Resources and Director of the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. He received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland at College Park and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Michigan State University. Dr. Bell teaches courses in Human Resource Management, Training and Development, and Work Groups and Teams to graduate and undergraduate students. Dr. Bell worked in the management and organization development department of First USA Bank/Banc One and has worked as an HR consultant for multiple private and public firms. Dr. Bell is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and American Psychological Association.

Research Statement

Dr. Bell's research interests include training and development, team development and effectiveness, and virtual work. His research has appeared in a number of journals, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Review, Human Resource Management, and Group & Organization Management. In addition, Dr. Bell has published numerous chapters that have appeared in edited research volumes and presents regularly at conferences, including the Academy of Management and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Dr. Bell was awarded the Early Career Achievement Award by the HR Division of the Academy of Management and he is a former Editor of Personnel Psychology.

Areas of Expertise

Group dynamics and processes

Human resources management

Technology and work

Training and Development

Work Teams/Work Process Redesign

Publications

Journal Articles

Anthony J Nyberg, Deidra J Schleicher, Bradford S Bell, Corine Boon, Peter Cappelli, David G Collings, Joseph E Dalle Molle, Stefan Feuerriegel, Barry Gerhart, Yoojin Jeong, M. Audrey Korsgaard, Dana Minbaeva, Robert E Ployhart, Prasanna Tambe, Ingo Weller, Patrick M Wright, & Valery Yakubovich. (2025). A brave new world of human resources research: Navigating perils and identifying grand challenges of the GenAI revolution.. Journal of Management, 51(6), 2677-2718.
Thao P. H. Nguyen, & Bradford S Bell. (2025). Task interdependence and shared leadership: A structural perspective on the distribution of leadership in teams. Group and Organization Management, 50(2), 514-545.
Kristie L. McAlpine, Bradford S Bell, & Emmanuelle Leon. (2025). It matters how you got there and who else is doing it: Examining the effects of two social-contextual characteristics of working from home.. Human Resource Management, 64, 289-306.
Thao P. H. Nguyen, Bradford S Bell, & Y. Connie Yuan. (2025). Multiple status signals in multinational teams: Implications of lingua franca proficiency and task expertise for informal leadership.. Group and Organization Management.
Joonyoung Kim, Huikun Chang, & Bradford S Bell. (2025). Organizational-level training and performance: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Management.
Quinetta Roberson, Ozias A Moore, & Bradford S Bell. (2024). An active learning approach to diversity training.. Academy of Management Review, 49(2), 344-365.
EunHee Kim, & Bradford S Bell. (2024). Team membership change and team effectiveness: The role of informational attributes.. Small Group Research, 55(3), 457-494.
Bradford S Bell, Kristie L McAlpine, & N Sharon Hill. (2023). Leading virtually. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 339-362.
Traci Sitzmann, & Bradford Bell. (2017). The Dynamic Effects of Subconscious Goal Pursuit on Resource Allocation, Task Performance, and Goal Abandonment. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 138, 1-14.
Bradford Bell, Scott I. Tannenbaum, Raymond A. Noe, J. Kevin Ford, & Kurt Kraiger. (2017). 100 years of training and development research: What we know and where we should go. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 305-323.
Adam M Kanar, Christopher Collins, & Bradford Bell. (2015). Changing an unfavorable employer reputation: the roles of recruitment message type and familiarity with employer. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Bradford Bell. (2014). Rigor and relevance. Personnel Psychology, 67(1), 1-4.
Adam M Kanar, & Bradford Bell. (2013). Guiding learners through technology-based instruction: The effects of adaptive guidance design and individual differences on learning over time. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(4), 1067-1081.
Bradford Bell, & Jessica E Federman. (2013). E-learning in Postsecondary Education. Future of Children, 23(1), 165-185.
Christopher Collins, & Bradford Bell. (2012). The state of the art in performance management: Learnings from discussions with leading organizations. People & Strategy, 36(2), 50-52.
Bradford Bell. (2012). Remote work: Examining current trends and organisational practices. International HR Adviser, 49, 4-6.
Bradford Bell, & Steve WJ Kozlowski. (2012). Three conceptual themes for future research on teams. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 5(1), 45-48.
Adam A Kanar, Christopher Collins, & Bradford Bell. (2010). A comparison of the effects of positive and negative information on job seekers’ organizational attraction and attribute recall. Human Performance, 23(3), 193-212.
Traci Sitzmann, Katherine Ely, Bradford Bell, & Kristina Bauer. (2010). The effects of technical difficulties on learning and attrition during online training. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 16(3), 281-292.
Bradford Bell, & Jessica Federman. (2010). Self-assessments of knowledge: Where do we go from here?. Academy of Mgmt Learning & Education, 9(2), 342-347.
Matthew J Pearsall, Aleksander PJ Ellis, & Bradford Bell. (2010). Building the infrastructure: The effects of role identification behaviors on team cognition development and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 192-200.
Traci Sitzmann, Bradford Bell, Kurt Kraiger, & Adam M Kanar. (2009). A multilevel analysis of the effects of prompting self-regulation in technology-based instruction. Personnel Psychology, 62(4), 697-734.
Bradford Bell, Adam M Kanar, & Steve WJ Kozlowski. (2008). Current issues and future directions in simulation-based training. International Journal of Human Resources Management, 19(8), 1416-1434.
Bradford Bell, & Steve WJ Kozlowski. (2008). Active learning: Effects of core training design elements on self-regulatory processes, learning, and adaptability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2), 296-316.
Bradford Bell, & J Kevin Ford. (2007). Reactions to skill assessment: The forgotten factor in explaining motivation to learn. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 18(1), 33-62.
Bradford Bell, Lee Sae-Won, & Sarah K Yeung. (2006). The impact of eHR on professional competence in HRM: Implications for the development of HR professionals. Human Resource Management Journal (US), 45(3), 295-308.
Steve W J Kozlowski, & Bradford Bell. (2006). Disentangling achievement orientation and goal setting: Effects on self-regulatory processes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 900-916.
Bradford Bell, Darin Wiechmann, & Ann Marie Ryan. (2006). Consequences of organizational justice expectations in a selection system. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 455-466.
Aleksander P J Ellis, Bradford Bell, Robert E Ployhart, John R Hollenbeck, & Daniel R Ilgen. (2005). An evaluation of generic teamwork skills training with action teams: Effects on cognitive and skill-based outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 58(3), 641-672.
Bradford Bell, Ann Marie Ryan, & Darin Wiechmann. (2004). Justice expectations and applicant perceptions. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12(1-2), 24-38.
Bradford Bell, & Steve W J Kozlowski. (2002). Adaptive guidance: Enhancing self-regulation, knowledge, and performance in technology-based training. Personnel Psychology, 55(2), 267-306.
Bradford Bell, & Steve W J Kozlowski. (2002). Goal orientation and ability: Interactive effects on self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 497-505.
Bradford Bell, & Steve W J Kozlowski. (2002). A typology of virtual teams: Implications for effective leadership. Group and Organization Management, 27(1), 14-49.
Bradford Bell, & Daniel R Ilgen. (2001). Informed consent and dual purpose research. American Psychologist, 56(12), 1177.
Bradford Bell, Steve W J Kozlowski, R J Toney, M E Mullins, D A Weissbein, & K G Brown. (2001). Developing adaptability: A theory for the design of integrated-embedded training systems. Advances in Human Performance and Cognitive Engineering Research, 1, 59-124.
Bradford Bell, & K J Klein. (2001). Effects of disability, gender, and job level on ratings of job applicants. Rehabilitation Psychology, 46(3), 229-246.

Book Chapters

Bradford S Bell, & Thao P. H. Nguyen. (2023). Virtual leadership. In The Sage encyclopedia of leadership studies. (pp. 967-970). Sage.
Steve WJ Kozlowski, & Bradford Bell. (2020). Advancing team learning: Process mechanisms, knowledge outcomes, and implications.. In Oxford Handbook of Organizational Learning. (pp. 195-230). Oxford University Press.
Steve WJ Kozlowski, & Bradford S Bell. (2019). Evidence-based principles and strategies for optimizing team functioning and performance in science teams. (pp. 269-293). Springer.
Bradford Bell, Kristie L McAlpine, & Sharon N Hill. (2019). Leading from a distance: Advancements in virtual leadership research. (pp. 387-418). Cambridge University Press.
Bradford Bell, & Ozias A Moore. (2018). Learning, training and development in organizations: Emerging trends, recent advances and future directions. In The Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology. (pp. 215-233). Sage.
Bradford Bell. (2017). Personnel Psychology. In Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. (pp. 1201-1202). Sage.
Bradford Bell. (2017). Strategies for supporting self-regulation during self-directed learning in the workplace. In Autonomous Learning in the Workplace. (pp. 117-134). Routledge.
Steve WJ Kozlowski, & Bradford Bell. (2017). Work teams. In Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. (pp. 1-6). Elsevier.
Steve WJ Kozlowski, & Bradford Bell. (2013). Work groups and teams in organizations. In Handbook of Psychology: Industrial and Organizational Psychology. (pp. 412-469). Wiley.
Bradford Bell, Steve WJ Kozlowski, & Sabrina Blawath. (2012). Team learning: A Review and Integration. In The Oxford Hanbook of Organizational Psychology. (pp. 859-909). Oxford University Press.
Bradford Bell, & Steve WJ Kozlowski. (2011). Collective failure: The emergence, consequences, and management of errors in teams. In Errors in Organizations. (pp. 113-141). Routledge - Taylor & Francis.
Bradford Bell, & Steve WJ Kozlowski. (2010). Work teams. In Encyclopedia of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. (pp. 955-958). Sage.
Bradford Bell, & Steve WJ Kozlowski. (2009). Toward a theory of learner centered training design: An integrative framework of active learning. In Learning, training, and development in organizations. (pp. 263-300). Erlbaum.
Steve WJ Kozlowski, & Bradford Bell. (2008). Team learning, development, and adaptation.. In Work Group Learning. (pp. 15-44). LEA.
Quinetta M Roberson, Bradford Bell, & Shanette C Porter. (2008). The language of bias: A linguistic approach to understanding intergroup relations. In Research in Managing Groups and Teams: Diversity & Groups. (pp. 267-294). Emerald.
Bradford Bell, & Steve W J Kozlowski. (2007). A theory-based approach for designing distributed learning systems. In Toward a science of distributed learning. APA.
Bradford Bell, & Steve W J Kozlowski. (2007). Advances in technology-based training. In Managing human resources in North America : current issues and perspectives. Routledge.
Aleksander P J Ellis, & Bradford Bell. (2006). Capacity, collaboration, and commonality: A framework for understanding team learning. In Understanding teams: A volume in research in management. Information Age.
Bradford Bell, & Steve W J Kozlowski. (2003). Work groups and teams in organizations. In Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology (vol. 12): Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Wiley.

Conference Proceedings

Matthew Pearsall, Aleksander PJ Ellis, & Bradford Bell. (2008). Slippage in the system: The Effects of errors in transactive memory behavior on team performance.

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