Business Commons^™

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 …

Unions And The Labor Market For Managers, John Dinardo, Kevin F. Hallock, Jörn-Steffen Pischke

Kevin F Hallock

We examine the relationship between the employment and compensation of managers and CEOs and the presence of a unionized workforce. We develop a simple efficiency wage model, with a tradeoff between higher wages for workers and more monitoring, which requires more managers. The model also assumes rent sharing between workers, managers and the owners of the firm. Unions, by redistributing rents towards the workers, lead to lower employment and lower pay for managers. Using a variety of data sets, we examine the implications of the model for the relationship between the employment and wages of managers and unionization. We find …

The Value Of Stock Options To Non-Executive Employees, Kevin F. Hallock, Craig A. Olson

Kevin F Hallock

This study empirically investigates the value employees place on stock options using information from the option exercise behavior of individuals. Employees hold options for another period if the value from holding them and reserving the right to exercise them later is higher than the value of exercising them immediately and collecting a profit equal to the stock price minus the exercise price. This simple model implies the hazard describing employee exercise behavior reveals information about the value to employees of holding options another time period. We show the parameters of this model are identified with data on multiple option grants …

Bringing Together Policymakers, Researchers, And Practitioners To Discuss Job Loss, Kristin F. Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

[Excerpt] On November 18–19, 2004, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Joyce Foundation cosponsored a conference at the Chicago Fed, “Job Loss: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses,” to bring together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss job loss from the perspective of both firms and workers. The first day focused on new research findings, with discussion and comment from participants with backgrounds in policy, practice, and research. The second day featured an address by Michael Moskow, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and panel discussions on layoff procedures from the point of view of firms and …

Data Improvement And Labor Economics, Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

The expansion of available data for research has transformed empirical labor economics over the past generation. This paper briefly highlights some of the changes and describes a few examples of papers that illustrate the advances. It also documents the changing ways data have been used in the Journal of Labor Economics over the past 30 years, including a trend toward a higher fraction of papers using any data and, among those papers using any data, a higher fraction using nonpublic data, a higher fraction using international data, and more frequent use of multiple data sources. Finally, this paper describes work …

Estimating Pay Gaps For Workers With Disabilities: Implications From Broadening Definitions And Data Sets, Kevin F. Hallock, Xin Jin, Linda Barrington

Kevin F Hallock

Purpose: To compare pay gap estimates across 3 different national survey data sets for people with disabilities relative to those without disabilities when pay is measured as wage and salary alone versus a (total compensation) definition that includes an estimate of the value of benefits.

Method: Estimates of the cost to the employers of employee benefits at the occupational level from an employer survey data set are matched to individual-level data in each of the 3 data sets. Multiple regression techniques are applied to estimate wage and salary and total compensation gaps between full-time men with and without …

Job Loss And The Fraying Of The Implicit Employment Contract, Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

[Excerpt] Most workers have one employment contract that is explicit and another one that is implicit. The explicit employment contract specifies working hours, compensation, and job tasks. The implicit contract involves expectations about the extent to which the employment relationship is not just a payment for labor on the spot market but instead is likely to continue over time. The possibility of a longer-term commitment between an employer and its employees in turn has a number of implications: for example, whether firms will seek to avoid mass layoffs unless or until absolutely necessary; whether firms may cushion the wages and …

Discrimination By Gender And Disability Status: Do Worker Perceptions Match Statistical Measures?, Kevin F. Hallock, Wallace Hendricks, Emer Broadbent

Kevin F Hallock

We explore whether perceptions of discrimination are related to ordinary statistical measures. The majority of disabled respondents report feeling some discrimination due to their disability, the majority of women feel some discrimination because of their gender, and a surprising number of men also report some discrimination. We do not find a strong link between perceptions of discrimination and measured discrimination perhaps because those who perceive discrimination feel that it occurs along other dimensions than pay. However, we do find a connection between whether a person feels his or her income is inadequate and measured discrimination for all groups studied.

Fundamental Issues With Hr Auditing, Chris Andrews

Dr Chris Andrews

Extract:

What entitles us to correctly call an evaluation of human resources an “HR Audit?” Professor Susan Nutley (2000) observed that ‘defining what an audit is and, conversely, what it is not’ was fraught with difficulties. Professor Alan Clardy (2004) observed that the term audit was used ‘rather indiscriminately’ in the literature so that ‘most any kind of study of human resources is considered an audit.’ Clearly, a human resource audit needs to be properly defined and separated from those activities that are not auditing. Clouding this is the auditing profession itself; for example, they widely use the term ‘review’ …

Assessment Of Under-Declared Employment In Croatia, Colin C. Williams, Miroslav Radvansky, Miroslav Stefanik

Colin C Williams

A Meta-Analytical Integration Of Over 40 Years Of Research On Diversity Training Evaluation, Katerina Bezrukova, Chester S. Spell, Jamie L. Perry, Karen A. Jehn

Jamie Perry

This meta-analysis of 260 independent samples assessed the effects of diversity training on 4 training outcomes over time and across characteristics of training context, design, and participants. Models from the training literature and psychological theory on diversity were used to generate theory-driven predictions. The results revealed an overall effect size (Hedges g) of .38 with the largest effect being for reactions to training and cognitive learning; smaller effects were found for behavioral and attitudinal/affective learning. Whereas the effects of diversity training on reactions and attitudinal/affective learning decayed over time, training effects on cognitive learning remained stable and even increased in …

Why Physicians Switch Electronic Health Record Vendors, Pete Andresen, Michelle Shussler, Kyle Sowards, Alberto Coustasse Dr.Ph. Md

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

There are many factors involved when a physician chooses to switch Electronic Health Record [EHR.] vendors including system functionality, cost, poor customer service, company reputation, platform of software, meaningful use certification, and various others. The purpose of this research study was to locate the various reasons that lead to switching vendors and the barriers and benefits associated with doing so. System functionality and cost were the two largest deciding factors in switching vendors. Shifting regulatory standards require additional functionality to fulfill quality reporting measures including the Meaningful Use and Physician Quality Reporting Systems standards and many physicians and health systems …

Social Justice & Libraries Guide 2017, Aisha Conner-Gaten, Elisa Slater Acosta, Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet, Krista Devito, Rhonda Rosen, Javier Garibay

Aisha Conner-Gaten

Being While Doing: An Inductive Model Of Mindfulness At Work, Christopher Lyddy, Darren J. Good

Christopher J. Lyddy

Mindfulness at work has drawn growing interest as empirical evidence increasingly supports its positive workplace impacts. Yet theory also suggests that mindfulness is a cognitive mode of “Being” that may be incompatible with the cognitive mode of “Doing” that undergirds workplace functioning. Therefore, mindfulness at work has been theorized as “being while doing,” but little is known regarding how people experience these two modes in combination, nor the influences or outcomes of this interaction. Drawing on a sample of 39 semi-structured interviews, this study explores how professionals experience being mindful at work. The relationship between Being and Doing modes demonstrated …

Can Asians Be Creative?, Chua, Roy Y. J., Jerry Zremski

Roy CHUA

A crotchety American named Henry Ford invented a modern, fast and efficient way to manufacture automobiles and a Japanese man named Eiji Toyoda refined and perfected it. A series of innovators across the western world developed the television - and the tech specialists at Sony, Toshiba and a host of other Asian companies found ways to make TVs better, cheaper, faster. And an idiosyncratic Californian named Steve Jobs invented a company that made a smart phone for the masses - and then outsourced the manufacturing to China. If you detect a pattern here, you are not alone. Asia may be …

Alleviating Managerial Dilemmas In Human-Capital-Intensive Firms Through Incentives: Evidence From M&A Legal Advisors, Olivier Chatain, Philipp Meyer-Doyle

Olivier Chatain

Effects Of Management-Development Practices On Hospitality Management Graduates' Job Satisfaction And Intention To Stay, Edwin Torres, Howard Adler

Edwin Torres

Companies have long recognized the importance of training and developing their managers to prepare them for their short- and long-term careers. Formal management-development programs and other less formal means of management development abound in the hospitality industry. Therefore, one may ask whether the entry-level managers for whom these programs are designed perceive them to be effective. The present study explores management-development practices, procedures, and techniques, and their effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Teaching Mindfulness For The Self-Care And Well-Being Of Student Affairs Professionals, Monica G. Burke, Lacretia Dye, Aaron W. Hughey

Lacretia Dye

The demands and expectations placed on student affairs professionals can lead to stress, burnout, a lack of work-life balance, and decreased job satisfactions. Accordingly, it could be beneficial to teach graduate students and professionals in student affairs graduate preparation program how to use self-care practices focusing on mindfulness. This mixed method study examined the perceptions of graduate students in a student affairs graduate preparation program regarding mindfulness training in increasing self-care, awareness, and coping strategies.

Exploring The Perceptions Of College Students On The Use Of Technology: What Do They Really Think?, Colleen Erin Marzilli, Julie A. Delello, Shelly Marmion, Rochell Mcwhorter

Julie Delello

Technology is an essential component of learning in the 21st century. College professors and teachers hold many assumptions regarding the technological skills and knowledge that students possess while learning in the college setting. In this article, we explore the technology use and attitudes towards technology held by students enrolled in a regional public university offering online, face-to-face and hybrid instruction. The understanding of students’ attitudes and use of technology is essential to informing the technological direction and pedagogical model in higher education from a traditional, lecture-based model to a technologically-enhanced model. In this study, we employed a mixed-method design using …

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.

Introduction: Bringing Jobs Back In: Toward A New Multi-Level Approach To The Study Of Work And Organizations, M. Diane Burton, Lisa E. Cohen, Michael Lounsbury

M. Diane Burton

In this paper, we call for renewed attention to the structure and structuring of work within and between organizations. We argue that a multi-level approach, with jobs as a core analytic construct, is a way to draw connections among economic sociology, organizational sociology, the sociology of work and occupations, labor studies and stratification and address the important problems of both increasing inequality and declining economic productivity.

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