Business Commons^™

The More The Merrier: How Psychological Standing And Work Group Size Explain Managers' Willingness To Communicate About Unethical Conduct In Their Work Group, Burak Oc, Maryam Kouchaki

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Business ethics research has long examined the dichotomy between remaining silent or reporting ethical misconduct to a third party. Little is known, however, about ethical conversations within a work group after observing misconduct. Specifically, we do not know how many members of their work group individuals choose to communicate with. These conversations could have important implications for creating an ethical workplace. We propose that psychological standing is an important driver of individuals' decisions not to remain silent and to instead raise moral concerns with a greater number of others in their work group. In addition, integrating existing work on structural …

Relative Power And Interpersonal Trust, Christilene Du Plessis, My Hoang Bao Nguyen, Trevor A. Foulk, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Because trust is essential in the development and maintenance of well-functioning relationships, scholars across numerous scientific disciplines have sought to determine what causes people to trust others. Power dynamics are known to predict trust, but research on the relationship between power and trust is inconclusive, with mixed results and without systematic consideration of how the relative power distribution within dyadic relationships may influence trust in those relationships. Building on interdependence theory, we propose that both individuals in an unequal-power dyad trust each other less than individuals in an equal-power dyad because unequal-power dyads heighten the perception of a conflict of …

Executive Dismissal Or Retention? A Study Of Performance, Power, And Survival For College Basketball Coaches, David B. Wangrow, Evan Schwartz, Margaret Hughes-Morgan

Management Faculty Research and Publications

This study applies upper echelons theory associated with executive dismissal and power to examine the relationships of performance and four types of executive power—structural, prestige, expert, and governance concentration—with dismissal. Using the context of National Collegiate Athletic Association college basketball, in which coaches are completely responsible for strategies and human capital acquisition and retention, a curvilinear relationship between performance and dismissal is found. Significant relationships for prestige and expert power with dismissal are also found, but the “honeymoon period” is longer than prior studies of executive and coach dismissal have shown. Surprisingly, concentrated governance is found to …

Data Analytics (Ab)Use In Healthcare Fraud Audits, Jared Koreff, M. Weisner, S. G. Sutton

School of Business Faculty Research

This study explores how government-adopted audit data analytic tools promote the abuse of power by auditors enabling politically sensitive processes that encourage industry-wide normalization of behavior. In an audit setting, we investigate how a governmental organization enables algorithmic decision-making to alter power relationships to effect organizational and industry-wide change. While prior research has identified discriminatory threats emanating from the deployment of algorithmic decision-making, the effects of algorithmic decision-making on inherently imbalanced power relationships have received scant attention. Our results provide empirical evidence of how systemic and episodic power relationships strengthen each other, thereby enabling the governmental organization to effect social …

Power And Negotiation: Review Of Current Evidence And Future Directions, Michael Schaerer, Laurel Teo, Nikhil Madan, Roderick I. Swaab

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This review synthesizes the impact of power on individual and joint negotiation performance. Although power generally has positive effects on negotiators’ individual performance (value claiming), recent work suggests that more power is not always beneficial. Taking a dyadic perspective, we also find mixed evidence for how power affects joint performance (value creation); some studies show that equal-power dyads create more value than unequal-power dyads, but others find the opposite. We identify the source of power, power distribution, and competitiveness as critical moderators of this relationship. Finally, we suggest that future research should move beyond studying alternatives in dyadic deal-making, identify …

Problem-Solving Or Self-Enhancement? A Power Perspective On How Ceos Affect R&D Search In The Face Of Inconsistent Feedback, Radina Blagoeva, Tom J. M. Mom, Justin J. P. Jansen, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Firms consider multiple reference points simultaneously to assess performance, yet often these referents may be inconsistent in signaling success or failure. Consequently, decision makers use two contrasting decision rules when responding to inconsistent feedback: problem-solving or self-enhancement. So far, disparate theoretical logics and mixed evidence has limited our understanding about when decision makers may shift their attention from positive to negative aspects of inconsistent feedback or vice versa, and may increase or decrease their R&D search. We examine how different types of CEO power explain why some firms may respond to inconsistent feedback, i.e. positive performance feedback and negative prospects, …

Win-Win In Distributive Negotiations: The Economic And Relational Benefits Of Strategic Offer Framing, Michael Schaerer, Martin Schweinsberg, Nico Thornley, Roderick I. Swaab

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In distributive negotiations, people often feel that they have to choose between maximizing their economic outcomes (claiming more value) or improving their relational outcomes (having a satisfied opponent). The present research proposes a conversational strategy that can help negotiators achieve both. Specifically, we show that using an offer framing strategy that shifts offer recipients’ attention to their reservation price (e.g., “How does my offer compare to your minimum price?”) leads to both (a) an assimilation effect whereby recipients make more favorable counteroffers (economic benefit) as well as (b) a contrast effect whereby recipients feel more satisfied with the negotiation (relational …

Making Ethnic Tourism Good For The Poor, Jean Junying Lor, Shelly Kwa, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How can ethnic tourism alleviate rural poverty? Due to the difficulty of simultaneously expanding tourism while promoting pro-poor tourism, most villages traverse one of two developmental pathways: 1) ensuring an inclusive structure before expanding, or 2) expanding before building an inclusive structure. This study compares four comparable cases in Southwestern China to understand the politics behind the decision to choose different pathways, and the impact each pathways has on local residents. While the first pathway requires a careful balance to maintain a pro-poor structure as tourism volume expands, the second pathway presents apparently insurmountable barriers to poverty reduction due to …

Texas Sport Leadership Consultants, Llc: A Case Of Cases, Emily S. Sparvero, Randall J. Griffiths, Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

This immersive, multi-case experience consists of four distinct cases and one meta-case that require students to engage with several organizational behavior topics. First, the meta-case takes the form of Texas Sport Leadership Consultants (TSLC), a fictitious company which consults with local sport management professionals in a variety of contexts. Students participate as temporary members of the company to analyze the issues and challenges associated with working as a member of TSLC. TSLC work groups are hired by four different clients, each of whom has a unique organizational behavior challenge. These clients include: (1) a combat-oriented sport company; (2) a company …

Delayed Adoption Of Rules: A Relational Theory Of Firm Exposure And State Cooptation, Cyndi Man Zhang, Henrich. R. Greve

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Thestate creates and changes rules that coerce firms, but firms can delay or decouple responses to rule changes in order to managethe cost of demands. Theoryof compliance to thestate has not yet considered the degree to which the firm candelay adoption because of low exposure to rules and state linksthat allow cooptation, butboth of these relations between state power and firm ability to counteract itcan affect the adoption decision. This makes the response to state rule changes a more strategic outcome than the theoryof coercive isomorphism implies. We develop a relational theory of delayed firmcompliance to a state rule change …

01. Evolution Of Leadership, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module serves as an introduction to the academic study of leadership and leadership theory, encouraging students to dissect leadership concepts through an objective and subjective lenses. With a general understanding of how leadership has changed through time and how it is classified today, students can explore where they fit into the definition itself.

Escape From ‘Owlcatraz’: An Interaction Ritual Case Study Of The Stadium Naming Rights Agreement Between Florida Atlantic University And The Geo Group, Inc., Kiernan O. Gordon

Business Faculty Publications

In 2013, Florida Atlantic University and The GEO Group, Inc. entered into a naming rights agreement for the university’s football facility, which the latter rescinded 42 days later. This agreement is unique relative to similar agreements within intercollegiate athletics in the United States for two reasons: the sponsoring entity’s business model and the fact that the agreement failed. The online media coverage of the naming rights agreement was gathered and used to reconstruct key events through qualitative content analysis (Berg, 2007). Interaction ritual theory (Collins, 2004) was employed to examine these events and provide an explanation for the agreement’s outcome. …

Jesus' Cross-Cultural Model Of 'Leader As Servant' In Luke 22:24-30, Debby Thomas

Faculty Publications - College of Business

This article presents a model of leadership proposed by Jesus that contributes to outstanding leadership in cultures throughout the world. A review of the literature on servant leadership and power distance reveal that although resisted, servant leadership is a desired and appropriate form of leadership even in cultures with high power distance. A socio-rhetorical interpretation of Luke 22:24-30 is presented focusing on Jesus’ command to ‘lead as a servant’. The modern-day conception of servant leadership is found to parallel Jesus’ teaching of leader as servant. Power distance, one of the dimensions in the GLOBE Study (Chhokar, Brodbeck, & House, 2007), …

Imaginary Alternatives: The Impact Of Mental Simulation On Powerless Negotiators, Michael Schaerer, Martin Schweinsberg, Roderick I. Swaab

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The present research demonstrates that negotiators can act powerfully without having power.Researchers and practitioners advise people to obtain strong alternatives prior to negotiating toenhance their power. However, alternatives are not always readily available, often forcingnegotiators to negotiate without much, or any, power. Building on research suggesting thatsubjective feelings of power and objective outcomes are disconnected and that mental simulationcan increase individuals’ aspirations, we hypothesized that the mental imagery of a strongalternative could provide similar psychological benefits to having an actual alternative. Ourstudies demonstrate that imagining strong alternatives causes individuals to negotiate moreambitiously and provides them with a distributive advantage: negotiators …

The Four Horsemen Of Power At The Bargaining Table, Adam D. Galinsky, Michael Schaerer, Joe C. Magee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper aims to identify and discuss four major sources of power in negotiations. Findings: The four sources of power are alternatives, information, status and social capital. Each of these sources of power can enhance a negotiator’s likelihood of obtaining their ideal outcome because power allows negotiators to be more confident and proactive, and it shields them from the bargaining tactics of their opponents. Practical implications: The paper discusses how negotiators can utilize each source of power to improve their negotiation outcomes. Originality/value: The paper provides a parsimonious definition of power in negotiations, identifies the four major sources of negotiator …

Mutual And Exclusive: Dyadic Sources Of Trust In Interorganizational Exchange, Bill Mcevily, Akbar Zaheer, Darcy Fudge Kamal

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Trust in interfirm exchange has traditionally been treated as mutually held and jointly determined by the two parties in a relationship. Yet, the expectations of exchange partners can, and routinely do, differ with respect to the goals, preferences, and vulnerabilities in their shared relationship. To account for such differences in expectations, we propose a broadened conceptualization of the sources of interorganizational trust as dyadic. Viewing the sources of trust as dyadic expands the conventional focus on mutual elements to further emphasize exclusive features of an exchange relationship. To substantiate our theory, we examine a key source of interorganizational trust, exchange …

The Passion Of Luc Boltanski: The Destiny Of Love, Violence And Institution, Roger Friedland, Diane-Laure Arjaliès

Business Publications

On Justification: Economies of Worth (Boltanski and Thévenot, 1991/2006) was a synthetic and comprehensive parsing of common goods, goods that could and had to be justified in public. In response to Bourdieu’s critical sociology, they rather provided a robust and disciplined sociology of critique, the situated requirements of justification. They refused power and violence as integral to the operability of justification. They emphasized the ways in which conventions of worth afforded coordination, not their constitution of or by domination. They refused to make either capitalism, or the state, into primary motors of social order. Indeed, they refused social sphere, structure …

Bargaining Zone Distortion In Negotiations: The Elusive Power Of Multiple Alternatives, Michael Schaerer, David D. Loschelder, Roderick I. Swaab

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We challenge the assumption that having multiple alternatives is always better than a single alternative by showing that negotiators who have additional alternatives ironically exhibit downward-biased perceptions of their own and their opponent’s reservation price, make lower demands, and achieve worse outcomes in distributive negotiations. Five studies demonstrate that the apparent benefits of multiple alternatives are elusive because multiple alternatives led to less ambitious first offers (Studies 1–2) and less profitable agreements (Study 3). This distributive disadvantage emerged because negotiators’ perception of the bargaining zone was more distorted when they had additional (less attractive) alternatives than when they only had …

Secret Conversation Opportunities Facilitate Minority Influence In Virtual Groups: The Influence On Majority Power, Information Processing, And Decision Quality, Roderick I. Swaab, Katherine W. Phillips, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examined the impact of secret conversation opportunities during virtual team discussions on majority opinion holders’ motivation to attend to minority opinion holders. Studies 1a and b showed that majorities were more motivated to process others’ arguments when secret conversation opportunities were available (vs. not), provided these arguments contained unique (vs. shared) information and this information was offered by the minority (vs. majority). Study 2 demonstrated that this effect occurs because secret opportunities made majorities feel less powerful after being exposed to unique information from the minority (Study 2a), especially when majority members expected others to use these channels (Study …

Leveraging It Resources, Embeddedness, And Dependence: A Supplier's Perspective On Appropriating Benefits With Powerful Buyers, Michael T. Lee, Kit Scott

Accountancy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The relationships between suppliers and buyers are often characterised by power differentials and dependence at the same time. This leads to the ability of a powerful buyer to benefit more from the relationship than the supplier. We examine how a supplier can strengthen its use of relation-specific IT with embeddedness to appropriate its share of relational benefits. We developed and tested a model of supplier relation-specific IT use, embeddedness, and buyer dependence on supplier. The results showed that embeddedness did not lead directly to the sharing of relational benefits; rather the appropriation of relational benefits is derived from buyer dependence.

An Assessment Of The Performances Of Several Univariate Tests Of Normality, James Olusegun Adefisoye

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of checking the normality assumption in most statistical procedures especially parametric tests cannot be over emphasized as the validity of the inferences drawn from such procedures usually depend on the validity of this assumption. Numerous methods have been proposed by different authors over the years, some popular and frequently used, others, not so much. This study addresses the performance of eighteen of the available tests for different sample sizes, significance levels, and for a number of symmetric and asymmetric distributions by conducting a Monte-Carlo simulation. The results showed that considerable power is not achieved for symmetric distributions when …

Speaking Truth To Power: The Effect Of Candid Feedback On How Individuals With Power Allocate Resources, Burak Oc, Michael R. Bashshur, Celia Moore

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Subordinates are often seen as impotent, able to react to but not affect how powerholders treat them. Instead, we conceptualize subordinate feedback as an important trigger of powerholders’ behavioral self-regulation, and explore subordinates’ reciprocal influence on how powerholders allocate resources to them over time. In two experiments using a multi-party, multi-round dictator game paradigm, we find that when subordinates provided candid feedback about whether they found prior allocations to be fair or unfair, powerholders regulated how self-interested their allocations were over time. However, when subordinates provided compliant feedback about powerholders’ prior allocation decisions (offered consistently positive feedback, regardless of the …

Anchors Weigh More Than Power: Why Absolute Powerlessness Liberates Negotiators To Achieve Better Outcomes, Michael Schaerer, Roderick I. Swaab, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current research shows that having no power can be better than having a little power. Negotiators prefer having some power (weak negotiation alternatives) to having no power (no alternatives). We challenge this belief that having any alternative is beneficial by demonstrating that weak alternatives create low anchors that reduce the value of first offers. In contrast, having no alternatives is liberating because there is no anchor to weigh down first offers. In our experiments, negotiators with no alternatives felt less powerful but made higher first offers and secured superior outcomes compared with negotiators who had weak alternatives. We established …

A Quarter Century Effort Yet To Come Of Age: A Survey Of Power Sector Reforms In Developing Countries, Tooraj Jamasb, Rabindra Nepal, Govinda Timilsina

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

It has been more than two decades since the widespread initiation of global power sector reforms and restructuring. However, empirical evidence on the intended microeconomic, macroeconomic, and quality-related impacts of reforms across developing countries is lacking. This paper comprehensively reviews the empirical and theoretical literature on the linkages between power sector reforms, economic and technical efficiency, and poverty reduction. The review finds that the extent of power sector reforms has varied across developing countries in terms of changes in market structures, the role of the state, and the regulation of the sector. Overall, the reforms have improved the efficiency and …

The Power Of The Weak, Martin Gargiulo, Gokhan Ertug

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Weak organizational actors can overcome the consequences of their dependence by securing the control of valuable resources or by embedding dependence relationships into social networks. While these strategies may not eliminate the underlying dependence, they can curtail the ability or the willingness of the stronger party to use power. Embedding strategies, however, can also have unintended consequences. Because the network structures that confer power to the weak are inherently more stable, they can persist beyond the point of being beneficial, trapping weak actors into unsuitable network structures. The power of the weak can thus become the weakness of the strong.

Stakeholders' Power, Corporate Characteristics, And Social And Environmental Disclosure: Evidence From China, Yingjun Lu, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates the influences of stakeholders' power and corporate characteristics on social and environmental disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms identified by a social responsibility ranking list. A stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional social and environmental disclosure index including disclosure quantity, disclosure type quality and disclosure item quality, is constructed to assess sample firms' social and environmental disclosures in their two public reports: annual reports and corporate social responsibility reports. Findings indicate that corporate social and environmental disclosures have significant and positive associations with firm size, profitability, and industry classification. The roles of various powerful stakeholders in influencing corporate social …

From Bonding To Bridging: Using The Immunity To Change (Itc) Process To Build Social Capital And Create Change, Froswa' Booker-Drew

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

A group of diverse women from various ethnic, religious, socio-economic and generations were brought together over the course of four months to determine if the Immunity to Change (ITC) process (Kegan & Lahey, 2009) would create bridging social capital as well as individual change. The group sessions included a process of assigned readings, discussions, and completion of ITC maps allowing women to reveal their identities and journeys through the sharing of their personal narratives. As a result, many experienced perception transformation regarding issues of gender, leadership, race, and class. The dissertation explores topics of power and privilege, relational leadership, and …

Power Motivates Interpersonal Connection Following Social Exclusion, Jayanth Narayanan, Kenneth Tai, Zoe Kinias

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research has systematically documented the negative effects of social exclusion, yet little is known about how these negative effects can be mitigated. Building on the approach-inhibition theory of power (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003), we examined the role of power in facilitating social connection following exclusion. Four experiments found that following exclusion, high power (relative to low power) individuals intend to socially connect more with others. Specifically, following exclusion, individuals primed with high power sought new social connections more than those primed with low power (Studies 1–4) or those receiving no power prime (Study 1). The intention to seek social …

Ethical Issues In Knowledge Management: Conflict Of Knowledge Ownership, Isabel D. W. Rechberg, Jawad Syed

Publications and Research

Purpose: This paper reviews ethical issues inherent in the theorisation and practice of knowledge management (KM) with specific attention to the conflict of knowledge ownership between organisations and individual employees.

Design/methodology/approach: Relevant literature was identified and reviewed via EBSCO host and ISIWeb.

Findings: The paper notes that knowledge, although rooted in individuals, is often claimed or treated as owned by organisations, creating a conflict of knowledge ownership. The paper argues that such an approach to appropriation and management of knowledge leads to tension in knowledge processes between organisations and individuals, and also among individuals. This situation may, in turn, jeopardise …

Shoot For The Stars? Predicting The Recruitment Of Prestigious Directors At Newly Public Firms, Abhijith G. Acharya, Timothy G. Pollock

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study explores how CEOs' and outside directors' desires for the benefits of signaling and homophily intertwine with their concerns over maintaining power and preserving local status hierarchies to affect the likelihood a firm recruits prestigious outside directors to its board. Using pooled cross-sectional data on the five years following the IPOs of 210 firms that went public between 2001 and 2004, we found that prestigious CEOs and directors viewed the recruitment of prestigious new directors differently, and that these perceptions were moderated by factors that increase the salience of risk of the potential losses to the CEO and existing …