Human Resources Management Commons^™

Are You Spending Your Company's Compensation Dollars Wisely?, Dow Scott

Dow Scott

Compensation costs are the largest single expense most organizations have—ranging from 15 to 20 percent in manufacturing to more than 80 percent in the human services industry. Recognizing the strategic impact of compensation, senior executives want to know if these dollars are being spent effectively. However, few organizations systematically evaluate their pay programs or only do so in the most rudimentary fashion.

Paying Our Presidents: What Do Trustees Value?, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, John J. Cheslock, Julia Epifantseva

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Our study makes use of data from a panel of over 400 private colleges and universities on their presidents’ salaries and benefits. These data, reported annually to the Internal Revenue Service on Form 990, have been collected by and reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education for academic years 1992–1993 through 1997–1998. We merge these data with those from other sources including the American Association of University Professors, the American Council on Education, Who’s Who in America, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the Council on Aid to Education, and the National Science Foundation’s CASPAR system. This …

Three Plants, Three Futures, Lowell Turner

Lowell Turner

To spread teamwork and cooperation, managers need to reform themselves—especially their attitudes about workers. At NUMMI, management has provided a system of work and rewards that has earned the loyalty of most employees and local union leaders.

Nummi – Japanische Produktionskonzepte In Den Usa, Lowell Turner

Lowell Turner

[Excerpt] NUMMI, die Produktionsstätte des Joint-Venture von General Motors und Toyota, hat Modellcharakter für die gesamte US-Automobilindustrie erlangt und gilt mittlerweile als Paradebeispiel fur eine erfolgreiche Reorganisation der Arbeit. Das »Geheimnis« von NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) liegt - kurz gefaβt - in der Übertragung von japanischen Produktionskonzepten mit entsprechend sozialpartnerschaftlichen Beziehungen zwischen Arbeitnehmern und Management, Teamarbeit, hoher Arbeitsintensität und groβerer Verantwortung der Beschäftigten für ihren Arbeitsbereich in eine gewerkschaftlich organisierte amerikanische Automontagestätte - mit dramatischen Ergebnissen hinsichtlich Produktivität und Produktqualität. Kein Wunder, daβ amerikanische Automobil-Manager - nicht nur bei GM, sondern auch bei Ford und Chrysler - darauf …

Impact Of Electronic Commerce Practices On Customer E-Loyalty: A Case Study Of Pakistan, Tausif M, Riaz Ahmad

Tausif M

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of electronic commerce practices such as customization, care, and contact interactively on customer’s E-loyalty. We collected data through structured questionnaires from customers of Amazon. We examined the relationship between independent variables i.e. care, customization, contact interactively and dependent variable customer’s e-loyalty. This research study basically tries to find out the importance of electronic commerce tools and preferences of the customers of Amazon. Sample of 100 customers was taken to measure the extent of relationship among variables. We used t test, regression and correlation to test our hypothesis whether the relationship …

Perils Of The High And Low Roads: Employment Relations In The United States And Germany, Lowell Turner, Kirsten S. Wever, Michael Fichter

Lowell Turner

[Excerpt] The U.S. crisis is characterized by growing income inequality, a shrinking safety net, and the decline of worker representation. Like the German crisis, it is caused in part by intensified global competition. Unlike in Germany, problems in the United States have also been exacerbated by deregulation, short-term horizons (e.g., quarterly reports to shareholders), and the decline of the labor movement.

Both Germany and the United States, however, have substantial political, economic, and social resources to use in solving their problems. The contemporary crises do not appear for either of these countries to foreshadow a major collapse like that of …

Faculty Retirement Policies After The End Of Mandatory Retirement, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Michael J. Rizzo

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] The findings we report above have implications for both institutions and their faculty members. In some states, rapidly growing college age cohorts will require academic institutions to hire large numbers of new faculty in the years ahead to fill positions created to meet the expanding demand for enrollments. Nationally, institutions will have to replace a large number of retiring faculty members in the years ahead. This suggests that most institutions’ concern in upcoming years will not be how to encourage their faculty members to retire. Rather, their concern will be how to continue to draw on the skills of …

A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Between The Use Of Gatekeepers, Trust, And Organisation Knowledge-Sharing, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This thesis critically examines the relationship between gatekeepers, trust, and an organisation’s knowledge sharing. The research applied mixed methods with the case study approach. In this research the concept ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who are part of a knowledge management strategy; they collect information and knowledge and contextualise this before they can share it with the rest of the members of the organisation’s knowledge networks - within the formal and informal organisation. In this study, it was found that there was a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its …

Our Inexpert Judgment Of Expertise, Catherine Lombardozzi

Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D.

This article is about Germain's Generalized Expertise Measure (GEM). It refers to Germain and Tejeda's article published in Human Resource Development Quarterly in the Summer 2012.

Opportunities And Challenges Of Shifting Identities For Women Leaders In Higher Education, Susan R. Madsen

Susan R. Madsen

It is clear that there are differing cultures, contexts, and complexities among the various groups within higher education, creating a “great divide” on many campuses across the globe. This includes the divide between current faculty and faculty who have transitioned into administration. This panelist has conducted in-depth research on the lived experiences of women university presidents in developing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies throughout their lives that are required for success leadership in higher education. Within this larger study, data were collected, using the phenomenological research approach, on the educational backgrounds, employment positions, career paths, and related struggles and …

Female Leadership Of Today In The United Arab Emirates, Susan R. Madsen, Linzi Kemp, Moh El-Saidi

Susan R. Madsen

This paper is based on data mined from a major database in the MENA region that tracks information about public and private companies. The paper, with nearly 1000 organizations analyzed, outlines the state of affairs in the UAE in terms of the presence of women in senior leadership positions.

Rating Formats Revisited: Yes, They Do Matter, C. Allen Gorman

C. Allen Gorman

No abstract provided.

Self-Control As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Formal Control And Workplace Deviance: A Proposed Framework, Kabiru Maitama Kura

Dr. Kabiru Maitama Kura

Several studies in the field of management, organizational psychology, sociology and criminology have reported that workplace deviance is related to organization/work variables, such as organizational justice, job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, and job stress, among others. However, few studies have attempted to consider the influence of formal control on workplace deviance. Even if any, they have reported conflicting findings. Therefore, a moderating variable is suggested. This paper proposes a moderating role of self-control on the relationship between formal control and workplace deviance.

Cornell Confronts The End Of Mandatory Retirement, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Michael W. Matier, David Fontanella

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] In July 1995, the first author of this paper was appointed vice president of academic programs, planning and budgeting at Cornell and, at his initiative, a joint faculty-administrative committee was subsequently established, with him as chair, to look into how the university should respond to the elimination of mandatory retirement. In this chapter, we discuss the environment in which the university found itself when the committee was established, the recommendations of the committee, faculty reactions to the recommendations, and the actions that the university ultimately decided to pursue.

No Longer Forced Out: How One Institution Is Dealing With The End Of Mandatory Retirement, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

: [Excerpt] Why should academic institutions or their faculty care about the end of mandatory retirement for tenured faculty, which became effective in January 1994? From the perspective of an individual tenured faculty member who wants to continue her career beyond age seventy, the elimination is a welcome event. In the past, faculty members who wanted to remain active after reaching seventy had to negotiate their status with institutions that were under no legal obligation to allow them to continue. Now, however, tenured faculty members have the legal right to continue indefinitely in their tenured appointments. From the point of …

Software Requirements Management Through The Lenses Of People, Organizational And Technological Dimensions, Fernando Paulo Belfo

Fernando Paulo Belfo

The inadequate specification of requirements remains being indicated as one of the main reasons for the failure of software development projects. A possible explanation for this failure is that requirements management tends to overvalue the technology side of requirements. However, the requirements management depends on other important issues beyond technology which are sometimes neglected. Good requirements are only assured by the right balance of three dimensions: people, organization and technology. Through the lens of each of these three dimensions, this paper reviews significant literature, identifying some of the key issues and concerns about the management of software requirements, particularly the …

Helping Hands, Gary Pan

Gary PAN

With economic uncertainty prevailing in recent years, Singapore is being confronted with the challenges of managing growing aging population, acute land and labour constraints and rising business operating costs. If left unchecked, these challenges may threaten Singapore’s economic well-being and consequently its status as a global and financial hub. To address these challenges, many believe productivity-driven growth can deliver sustainable and inclusive economic development and improve Singapore’s standard of living over time. The National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC), set up to spur Singapore to step up its efforts to boost skills and enterprise productivity, has identified the accountancy …

Change Management: The People Dimension, Gary Pan

Gary PAN

Many accounting professionals believe it is important to raise productivity in the accounting sector. A recent survey conducted by the Institute of Management Accountants (2011), however, highlighted that raising productivity, while a very important topic, can be a daunting challenge. Therefore, the urgent issue facing the accounting sector is to address the critical concern of how accounting professionals can be more productive?

Estimating Wage-Fringe Trade-Offs: Some Data Problems, Robert Smith, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] This paper represents an inquiry into some of the data related difficulties inherent in estimating wage-fringe trade-offs, and it explores the usefulness of a particular source of data in meeting these difficulties.

Compensating Wage Differentials For Mandatory Overtime, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Paul L. Schumann

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Our paper estimates the extent to which employees are compensated for an unfavorable job characteristic, being required to accept mandatory assignment of overtime, by receiving higher straight—time wages. Our estimating equations are derived from a model in which wage rates and the existence of mandatory assignment of overtime are jointly determined in the market by the interaction of employee and employer preferences. While on average, we do not observe the existence of a compensating wage differential for mandatory overtime, we do observe the existence of such differentials for unionized workers and workers with only a few years experience at a …

Why Warn? The Impact Of Recent Plant-Closing And Layoff Prenotification Legislation In The United States, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, George H. Jakubson

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] WARN was passed only after a decade of strenuous debate. We can now look back and address a number of issues it raised. What benefits did its proponents think would arise from the notice legislation, and what costs did its opponents think there would be? What public policies toward advance notice do other nations have? Did displaced workers in the United States receive advance notice before the passage of WARN? What do we know empirically about the effects on workers and firms of the provision of advance notice? What has experience under WARN taught us? Finally, what research issues …

Blending General Increases With A Pay-For-Performance Policy, Dow Scott

Dow Scott

T he system of awarding annual across-the-board merit raises— central to how most employees are paid—no longer makes sense.

A Method For Measuring Destructive Leadership And Identifying Types Of Destructive Leaders In Organizations, James Shaw, Anthony Erickson, Michael Harvey

James B Shaw

This study describes the development of a measure of the nature of destructive leadership in organizations. We then use scales developed from that measure in a cluster analysis to empirically derive a behavior-based taxonomy of destructive leaders. Data were obtained through a web-based survey that generated 707 respondents. Based on follower perceptions, the results identified seven types of destructive leaders using behavior-focused scales. An interesting discovery was that most of the types of destructive leaders identified were not “all destructive” but rather perceived as extreme on just one or two characteristics.

A Method For Measuring Destructive Leadership And Identifying Types Of Destructive Leaders In Organizations, James Shaw, Anthony Erickson, Michael Harvey

Anthony Erickson

This study describes the development of a measure of the nature of destructive leadership in organizations. We then use scales developed from that measure in a cluster analysis to empirically derive a behavior-based taxonomy of destructive leaders. Data were obtained through a web-based survey that generated 707 respondents. Based on follower perceptions, the results identified seven types of destructive leaders using behavior-focused scales. An interesting discovery was that most of the types of destructive leaders identified were not “all destructive” but rather perceived as extreme on just one or two characteristics.

The Costs Of Defined Benefit Pension Plans And Firm Adjustments, Burt S. Barnow, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] While it is obvious that the costs of term life insurance vary directly with age, it is less obvious how employers' contributions to pension funds, which comprise a major share of nonwage compensation, vary. As such, we focus in this paper on the most common variant of pension plans and demonstrate how an employer's cost of fully funding a plan varies with the age and service characteristics of his work force. This cost, as a percent of annual salary, is seen to increase with employees' ages and, in some cases, years of service. This variation has important implications for …

Retirement Policies, Employment, And Unemployment, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] There is a growing consensus among economists that reliance on aggregate demand policies alone will not be sufficient to move the economy to full employment with a nonaccelerating inflation rate, and that policies which alter the structure of labor markets will be required. While obvious structural policies such as public sector employment programs and training programs are the focus of current debate, many other public policies affect labor markets in subtle ways which may well adversely affect the level and distribution of employment and unemployment. To help improve the inflation-unemployment tradeoff, policymakers should seek to marginally modify these policies, …

Do Economics Departments With Lower Tenure Probabilities Pay Higher Faculty Salaries?, Ronald Ehrenberg, Paul Pieper, Rachel Willis

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

The simplest competitive labor market model asserts that if tenure is a desirable job characteristic for professors, they should be willing to pay for it by accepting lower salaries. Conversely, if an institution unilaterally reduces the probability that its assistant professors receive tenure, it will have to pay higher salaries to attract new faculty. Our paper tests this theory using data on salary offers accepted by new assistant professors at economics departments in the United States during the 1974-75 to 1980-81 period, along with data on the proportion of new Ph.D.s hired by each department between 1970 and 1980 that …

The Impact Of Retirement Policies On Employment And Unemployment, Ronald Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] This paper has focused on the impact of retirement policies on the level and distribution of employment and unemployment. All of the policies discussed, except for early retirement provisions in privately negotiated collective bargaining contracts were seen to have adverse effects on the level and distribution of employment. Hence, the paper illustrates the more general point that policies designed to promote one social goal may well detract from achieving other goals and suggests that more explicit attention should be given to the employment effects of social programs and legislation prior to their adoption.

Executive Compensation In Municipalities, Gerald S. Goldstein, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] In this paper we are concerned with the salaries of three important municipal officials; city-managers, police chiefs, and fire chiefs. We present a model that relates the salaries of these officials to a set of explanatory variables, the most important being measures associated with job performance. Two of these measures of performance are developed in the study. Further, the influence of the city-manager form of government on the incentive structure facing police chiefs and fire chiefs, and the interdependence betwen the salaries of police chiefs and fire chiefs is investigated. The model is tested using cross-section data for 1967.

Cost-Of-Living Adjustment Clauses In Union Contracts: A Summary Of Results, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Leif Danziger, Gee San

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Our paper provides an explanation why cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) provisions and their characteristics vary widely across U.S. industries. We develop models of optimal risk sharing between a firm and union to investigate the determinants of a number of contract characteristics. These include the presence and degree of wage indexing, the magnitude of deferred noncontingent wage increases, contract duration, and the trade-off between temporary layoffs and wage indexing. Preliminary empirical tests of some of the implications of the model are described. One key finding is that the level of unemployment insurance benefits appears to influence the level of layoffs and the …