Craig C. Pinder

Dr. Pinder has devoted his professional career to the study of why people work and to the problems and encouragements that occur along the way.  Initially interested in a career in Canadian politics, he became far more interested during his undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia during the 1960s (BA, 1970) in issues related to work, employee motivation, and the exploitation of people by employers. He earned his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota (1972) to learn the fundamentals of human resources management, then progressed to a doctoral program at Cornell University (PhD, 1975) to learn more about the human aspects of work relationships, with a specific emphasis on the question of why people work. To date, he has written two books on the subject (through 1998) and is expecting a revision of the second book to appear in 2007: Work Motivation in Organizational Behaviour (2nd Edition., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).  He has written many theoretical and applied articles on work motivation, human resources management, and the philosophy of science and the conduct of research as they relate to organizational studies. He has served on many graduate-level student committees and was the major professor of four successful doctoral students while serving at the University of British Columbia. 

Dr. Pinder is past president of the Western Academy of Management, an academic organization devoted to the promotion of research and enlightened practice in management and organizational studies (1994). He represented British Columbia in the establishment of national standards for practice in human resources and in the creation of the Certified Human Resources Management Professional (CHRP) credential for Canadian HR professionals during the 1990s. He served on the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Human Resource Management Association both before and during the establishment of the national standards. He retains the CHRP credential, which must be renewed every three years by study and self-development.

Professor Pinder teaches students about organizations, careers, and the ways bureaucratic systems work using a largely descriptive approach; he does not teach management, per se. He has won several teaching awards, including: two from the Commerce  Students’ Society of the Faculty of Business, University of Victoria (2002, 2005); one from the Commerce Undergraduate Society at the University of British Columbia (1979/80); and one from the University of British Columbia (the University Teaching Prize), in 1994. Since moving to the University of Victoria in 1999, Dr. Pinder has served in a number of administrative roles, including Associate Dean, Faulty of Business (twice—fall, 2001; fall, 2005); Acting Dean (spring 2002), and Vice-President, pro tem, External Relations (2002/03).

The University of Victoria designated Dr. Pinder University of Victoria Distinguished Professor (of Organizational Behaviour) in June, 2005 on the basis of four criteria: career accomplishments in research; career contributions to teaching excellence; contributions to the service of the University of Victoria; and contributions to his professional constituency (the human resources management profession across Canada).

Pinder, C.C. (2008). Work motivation in organizational behavior (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Psychology Press.

Moore, L.F., Johns, G. & Pinder, C.C. (1980). Toward the middle range theory: An overview and perspective. In C.C. Pinder & L.F. Moore (Eds.), Middle Range Theory and the Study of Organizations (1-16). Boston: Martinus Nijhoff.

Pinder, C.C. (1984). Work Motivation: Theory, Issues, and Applications. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman.

Pinder, C.C. (1998). Work Motivation in Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Pinder, C.C. & Harlos, K.P. (2002). Employee silence: Quiescence and acquiescence as responses to perceived injustice. In G.R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 20, 331-370.

Latham, G.P. & Pinder, C.C. (2005). Work motivation theory and research at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Annual Review of Psychology, 56(1), 485-516.

University of Victoria Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behaviour

Introductory course in Organizational Behaviour; advanced course in topics in organizational behaviour. Also available: courses in human resources management and research methods for social science doctoral students and aspiring human resource management professionals.