Business Commons^™

Your Community Gets A B- : Analysis Of The Specific And Curious Realm Of Airport Bond Ratings, Richard R. Hawkins, Stephen A. Lemay, Peter M. Ralston

Peter Ralston

Commercial airports are publicly-owned transportation infrastructure, usually funded with bonds. The bond rating decision for these entities thus has important ramifications for bond investors, issuers, airport managers, and even the communities the airports serve, but the rating decision process is not well understood. This paper discusses a simulation of the rating process in two decision environments, including a downgrade. The effect of information framing in an environment of incomplete data is examined using amateur evaluators. Amateur evaluators were utilized to understand how people with limited financial analysis skills would respond when presented with incomplete information and a primed scenario. The …

The Past And Future Of Supply Chain Collaboration: A Literature Synthesis And Call For Research, Peter M. Ralston, R. Glenn Richey, Scott J. Grawe

Peter Ralston

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide scholarly and practical benefits by detailing the past and suggesting a future research agenda for supply chain (SC) collaboration. A literature review is utilized to examine what has been investigated prior, and what remains to be analyzed, in order to assist today’s managers and researchers. The research expands the understanding of SC collaboration from a focal firm perspective while providing boundaries for future investigation and at the same time detailing the current state of collaboration to practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach The current research utilizes a systematic review of the literature to shape a …

Cognitive Prompts Fail To Moderate The Impact Of Stereotype Threat On Older Adults’ Training Performance, Thomas M. Cavanagh, Kurt Kraiger, Janet Peters

Thomas M. Cavanagh

Using a sample of 131 adults aged 55 to 70 years, researchers employed a 2 x 2 between-subject design to investigate whether cognitive prompts would counteract the negative effect of stereotype threat on older adults’ training outcomes. As hypothesized, stereotype threat negatively affected training outcomes. Contrary to expectations, cognitive prompts also negatively affected training outcomes, worsening the negative impact of stereotype threat. Results are discussed within the framework of cognitive load theory.

Talent Management: Hiring And Developing Engaged Employees, Chuck O'Bryan, Anne Marie Casey

Anne Marie Casey

Talent management, which includes intentional work design, leadership development, and employee engagement, is a growing trend in the world of commerce, both domestically and globally. This article provides a review of the literature on talent management and explores ways in which this human resource management concept might be applicable to higher education and libraries.

Complementary Or Conflictual? Formal Participation, Informal Participation, And Organizational Performance, Adam Seth Litwin, Adrienne Eaton

Adam Seth Litwin

Most studies of worker participation examine either formal participatory structures or informal participation. Yet, increasingly, works councils and other formal participatory bodies are operating in parallel with collective bargaining or are filling the void left by its decline. Moreover, these bodies are sprouting in workplaces in which workers have long held a modicum of influence, authority, and production- or service-related information. This study leverages a case from the healthcare sector to examine the interaction between formal and informal worker participation. Seeking to determine whether or not these two forces—each independently shown to benefit production or service delivery—complement or undermine one …

Work Ethic And Work Outcomes In An Expanded Criterion Domain, C. Allen Gorman, C. P. Meriac

C. Allen Gorman

Excerpt: The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between dimensions of work ethic and dimensions of OCB and CWB.

The Ambivert Advantage: Curvilinear Effects Of Extraversion On Job Performance And Organizational Citizenship Behavior, C. Allen Gorman

C. Allen Gorman

No abstract provided.

Debunking The Myths Of Performance Management, C. Allen Gorman

C. Allen Gorman

No abstract provided.

Examining Strategic Fit And Misfit In The Management Of Knowledge Workers, Christopher J. Collins, Rebecca Kehoe

Christopher J Collins

This study advances research on strategic human resource management by examining whether better firm performance depends on the alignment between an organization’s human resources (HR) system and its innovation strategy. The authors argue that the unique problems underlying exploration innovation strategies and exploitation innovation strategies require core workers to engage in different types of knowledge-search and -combination behaviors. Alternative HR systems theoretically produce different knowledge-search and -combination behaviors by way of their effect on employees’ ability, motivation, and opportunity structures at work. Drawing on a field study of 230 software firms, the authors demonstrate that alternative HR systems support either …

When Does Employee Turnover Matter? Dynamic Member Configurations, Productive Capacity, And Collective Performance, John Hausknecht, Jacob A. Holwerda

John Hausknecht

In theory, employee turnover has important consequences for groups, work units, and organizations. However, past research has not revealed consistent empirical support for a relationship between aggregate levels of turnover and performance outcomes. In this paper, we present a novel conceptualization of turnover to explain when, why, and how it affects important outcomes. We suggest that greater attention to five characteristics—leaver proficiencies, time dispersion, positional distribution, remaining member proficiencies, and newcomer proficiencies—will reveal dynamic member configurations that predictably influence productive capacity and collective performance. We describe and illustrate the five properties, explain how particular member configurations exacerbate or diminish turnover’s …

Work-Unit Absenteeism: Effects Of Satisfaction, Commitment, Labor Market Conditions, And Time, John Hausknecht, Nathan J. Hiller, Robert J. Vance

John Hausknecht

Prior research is limited in explaining absenteeism at the unit level and over time. We developed and tested a model of unit-level absenteeism using five waves of data collected over six years from 115 work units in a large state agency. Unit-level job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and local unemployment were modeled as time-varying predictors of absenteeism. Shared satisfaction and commitment interacted in predicting absenteeism but were not related to the rate of change in absenteeism over time. Unit-level satisfaction and commitment were more strongly related to absenteeism when units were located in areas with plentiful job alternatives.

Retaking Ability Tests In A Selection Setting: Implications For Practice Effects, Training Performance, And Turnover, John Hausknecht

John Hausknecht

This field study investigated the effect of retaking identical selection tests on subsequent test scores of 4,726 candidates for law enforcement positions. For both cognitive ability and oral communication ability selection tests, candidates produced significant score increases between the 1st and 2nd and the 2nd and 3rd test administrations. Furthermore, the repeat testing relationships with posthire training performance and turnover were examined in a sample of 1,515 candidates eventually selected into the organization. As predicted from persistence and continuance commitment rationales, the number of tests necessary to gain entry into the organization was positively associated with training performance and negatively …

Justice As A Dynamic Construct: Effects Of Individual Trajectories On Distal Work Outcomes, John Hausknecht, Michael C. Sturman, Quinetta M. Roberson

John Hausknecht

Despite an amassing organizational justice literature, few studies have directly addressed the temporal patterning of justice judgments and the effects that changes in these perceptions have on important work outcomes. Drawing from Gestalt characteristics theory (Ariely & Cannon, 2000, 2003), we examine the concept of justice trajectories (i.e., levels and trends of individual fairness perceptions over time) and offer empirical evidence to highlight the value of considering fairness within a dynamic context. Participants included 523 working adults who completed surveys about their work experiences on 4 occasions over the course of 1 year. Results indicate that justice trends explained additional …

Causes And Consequences Of Collective Turnover: A Meta-Analytic Review, Angela L. Heavey, Jacob A. Holwerda, John Hausknecht

John Hausknecht

Given growing interest in collective turnover (i.e., employee turnover at unit and organizational levels), the authors propose an organizing framework for its antecedents and consequences and test it using meta-analysis. Based on analysis of 694 effect sizes drawn from 82 studies, results generally support expected relationships across the 6 categories of collective turnover antecedents, with somewhat stronger and more consistent results for 2 categories: human resource management inducements/investments and job embeddedness signals. Turnover was negatively related to numerous performance outcomes, more strongly so for proximal rather than distal outcomes. Several theoretically grounded moderators help to explain average effect-size heterogeneity for …

Mind The Gap, Ala Annual Conference 2017, Aisha Conner-Gaten

Aisha Conner-Gaten

The Impact Of Supervisory Monitoring On High-End Retail Sales Productivity, Rajiv D. Banker, Seok-Young Lee, Gordon S. Potter, Dhinu Srinivasan

Gordon Potter

Based on a two-stage analysis of a panel of data on 12 outlets of a high-end retailer for 24 months, we investigate how the level of supervisory monitoring affects retail sales productivity. In the first stage, we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compute the relative productivity of retail outlets in using their labor and capital resources to generate store sales. In the second stage, we regress the logarithm of DEA scores on contextual variables to obtain consistent estimators of the impact of contextual variables on productivity (Banker and Natarajan in Operation Research 56:48-58, 2008). Contrary to agency theoretic prediction …

A Field Study Of The Impact Of A Performance-Based Incentive Plan, Rajiv D. Banker, Seok-Young Lee, Gordon S. Potter

Gordon Potter

Much management accounting research focuses on design of incentive compensation contracts. A basic assumption in these contracts is that performance-based incentives improve employee performance. This paper reports on a field test of the multi-period incentive effects of a performance-based compensation plan on the sales of a retail establishment. Analysis of panel data for 15 retail outlets over 66 months indicates a sales increase when the plan is implemented, an effect that persists and increases over time. Sales gains are significantly lower in the peak selling season when more temporary workers are employed.

An Empirical Analysis Of Continuing Improvements Following The Implementation Of A Performance-Based Compensation Plan, Rajiv D. Banker, Seok-Young Lee, Gordon S. Potter, Dhinu Srinivasan

Gordon Potter

Performance improvements subsequent to the implementation of a pay-for-performance plan can result because more productive employees self-select into the firm (selection effect) and/or because employees allocate effort to become more effective (effort effect). We analyze individual performance data for 3,776 sales employees of a retail firm to evaluate these alternative sources of continuing performance improvement. The incentive plan helps the firm attract and retain more productive sales employees, and motivates these employees to further improve their productivity. In contrast, the less productive sales employees’ performance declines before they leave the firm.

An Empirical Analysis Of Performance Impacts Resulting From Conversion To Franchise Operations, James Hesford, Mina Pizzini, Gordon S. Potter

Gordon Potter

Franchising is an important form of organizational control. Possible benefits of franchising include its ability to reduce agency costs that increase with costly monitoring, and provide incentives for the use of local information by onsite managers. However, these benefits may come at a cost, as franchisees may reduce quality by choosing to free ride. While many studies have investigated the reasons for franchising, few studies have documented the impacts of franchising on unit level operating performance. Using time-series data from a number of lodging properties that were converted to franchisee control from company control, this study documents the performance impacts …

Inside Sales Force And Gender: Mediating Effects Of Intrinsic Motivation On Sales Controls And Performance, Anne Gottfried, Scott Ambrose

Scott C. Ambrose

An Empirical Examination Of The Impacts From Termination Of A Performance-Based Incentive Plan, Rajiv D. Banker, Seok-Young Lee, Gordon S. Potter, Dhinu Srinivasan

Gordon Potter

This paper reports on the financial impacts from the termination of a pay for performance plan for the salesforce at a retail establishment. Using monthly panel data spanning more than eight years for 15 outlets of a major retailer, this study documents that store-level sales and operating profits decrease after the incentive plan is terminated. Individual performance data are then investigated to help identify the role of effort and selection effects in explaining the documented decrease. The analysis of the individual employee sales data reveals that virtually all of the declining store level sales can be explained by selection effects.

Technological Change At Work: The Impact Of Employee Involvement On The Effectiveness Of Health Information Technology, Adam Seth Litwin

Adam Seth Litwin

The link between employee involvement (El) and organizational performance is not clear-cut, and the diffusion of information technology (IT) in the workplace complicates this relationship. The author argues that new technologies offer an important avenue by which El can improve hrm performance. He also contends that those studies that do consider El in the context of technological change may be focusing exclusively on workplace-level features of the employment relationship, ignoring variation in functional- and strategic-level aspects of employment relations. To test this hypothesis, he uses Kaiser Permanente Northwest Region’s patient scheduling module as an exemplar to investigate the extent to …

Nose To Tail: Using The Whole Employment Relationship To Link Worker Participation To Operational Performance, Adam Seth Litwin

Adam Seth Litwin

Although many employers continue to adopt various forms of worker participation or employee involvement, expected positive gains often fail to materialize. One explanation for the weak or altogether missing performance effects is that researchers rely on frameworks that focus almost exclusively on contingencies related to the workers themselves or to the set of tasks subject to participatory processes. This study is premised on the notion that a broader examination of the employment relationship within which a worker participation program is embedded reveals a wider array of factors impinging upon its success. I integrate labor relations theory into existing insights from …

Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip): A Group Work Model In Workforce Development, Philip Young P. Hong

Philip Hong

This presentation introduces a newly developed social work group intervention model in workforce development. Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program empowers participants to develop self-awareness, confidence, hope, goal-orientation, leadership, accountability, conscientiousness, and grit, it is anticipated that it improves both employment and retention outcomes.

The Fine Line Employers Walk: Is It A Justified Business Practice, Or Discrimination?, Michelle Dimaria

Michelle DiMaria

No abstract provided.

State Uses Financial Incentives To Fund Nursing Home–Initiated Quality Improvement Projects Through Competitive Bidding Process, Leading To Better Care, Valerie Cooke, Greg Arling, T. Lewis, Kathleen Abrahamson, Priscilla Arling, H. Davila, C. Mueller

Priscilla Arling

Authorized in 2006 by the State legislature, Minnesota’s Performance-Based Incentive Program funds nursing home–initiated quality improvement projects for 1 to 3 years through increases of up to 5 percent in the operating per diem rate charged to Medicaid and private-pay residents. Funding decisions are made through a competitive bidding process administered annually by the Department of Human Services, with recommendations from a review committee. Program staff provide support to nursing homes during and after the application process. Nursing homes that do not achieve project-specific performance targets can lose up to 20 percent of the incentive payments. The program has engaged …

The Globalization Of Service Work: Comparative Institutional Perspectives On Call Centers (Introduction To A Special Issue Of The Industrial & Labor Relations Review), Rosemary Batt, David Holman, Ursula Holtgrewe

Rosemary Batt

This introduction to the special issue on the globalization of service work provides an overview of the call center sector and its development in coordinated, liberal market, and emerging market economies. The introduction's authors situate this research in literature on the comparative political economy and industrial relations. Drawing on qualitative research and a unique survey of 2,500 establishments in 17 countries conducted in 2003-2006, they discuss the extent of convergence and divergence in management practices and employment relations. They also describe the research methodology for the overall research project, highlight its major findings, and summarize the contributions of the thematic …

How Institutions And Business Strategies Affect Wages: A Cross-National Study Of Call Centers, Rosemary Batt, Hiroatsu Nohara

Rosemary Batt

This paper, drawing on a 2003-2006 establishment-level survey of 1,819 call centers in 15 countries, examines effects of industrial relations institutions and employer strategies on wage variation across coordinated, liberal, and emerging market economies. The authors find several contradictory patterns, which confirm theoretical predictions for some countries and contradict them for others, suggesting diverse institutional reactions to the emergence of a new economic activity. Consistent with prior research, Denmark, France, and Sweden exhibit patterns of low wage dispersion and no union wage premium, and the United States, Canada, and emerging market economies exhibit quite high levels of dispersion. Contrary to …

Hr Performance Auditing: An Australian Story, Chris Andrews

Dr Chris Andrews

Extract: This explanatory paper covers some of the background to an Australian HR Performance Auditing Case Study (2005 – 2007). The case study was undertaken as a formal component of the 2005 Internal Audit plan for the host organisation, QUT University, located in south-east Queensland, Australia. The literature on human resource performance evaluation identified HR Auditing as an existing (but unpopular) method of evaluating human resource activities. In reality most commentators had difficulty in explaining what HR Auditing actually involved and few differentiated the topic based on an independence criterion.

Appr Appeals Process Report: Panels, Alexander Colvin, Sally Klingel, Honore Johnson

Alexander Colvin

[Excerpt] This report describes the characteristics of joint panels and examines where they are being used in New York State to resolve APPR teacher evaluation disputes. The information presented here was gathered by analyzing the provisions of the APPR appeal procedures, which are publicly available on the New York State Department of Education website.