Human Resources Management Commons^™

Singapore Will Soon Have Workplace Anti-Discrimination Laws: Here’S What You Need To Know, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Work is often a significant part of one’s life. Decisions by employers — including hiring decisions and choices on how to treat employees at work — can have life-changing effects on lives and livelihoods. Therefore, if there were reason to suspect that some employers make such decisions on the grounds of applicants’ or employees’ race, sex, or other personal characteristics without a valid reason, then we should be worried. If that were to become widespread, our society would suffer. Some people would face greater challenges than others at work, and therefore in life, merely because of who they are.

Can Employers Justify Paying Workers Who Return To The Office More Than Those Who Work From Home?, Jared Nai

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Employers have strong grounds to do so but should avoid differentiating for wrong reasons like presenteeism, Singapore Management University’s Jared Nai says.

Just Because You're Powerless Doesn't Mean They Aren't Out To Get You: Low Power, Paranoia, And Aggression, Michael Schaerer, Trevor Foulk, Christilene Du Plessis, Min Hsuan Tu, Satish Krishnan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Due to its pervasive negative consequences, failing to understand the origins of paranoia can be costly for organizations. Prior research suggests that powerful employees are particularly likely to experience paranoia as others want to exploit the resources they control, implying that employees low in power should feel less paranoid. In contrast, we build on Conservation of Resources Theory and sociocultural perspectives of power to argue that the inherent vulnerability associated with being low power also evokes paranoia as a protection mechanism. Because paranoia causes employees to form malevolent attributions towards others, we predict that paranoia, in turn, leads to aggressive …

Managers' Pay Duration And Voluntary Disclosures, Qiang Cheng, Young Jun Cho, Jae B. Kim

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Given the adverse effect on their welfare, managers are reluctant to disclose bad news in a timely fashion. We examine the effect of managers' pay duration on firms' voluntary disclosures of bad news. Pay duration refers to the average period that it takes for managers' annual compensation to vest. We hypothesize and find that pay durations can incentivize managers to provide more bad news earnings forecasts. This result holds after controlling for the endogeneity of pay duration. In addition, we find that the effect of pay duration is more pronounced for firms with weaker governance and with poorer information environments, …

Building Digital-Ready Culture, Richard Raymond Smith

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The rapid change to digital and remote working in organizations around the world has been a great test of human spirit and resilience. Yet, over the weeks and months of meeting and engaging people through cameras and microphones, many have noted that “Things are not quite the same.” While we have replaced the formal physical meetings, the paper-intensive processes, and the auditorium town-hall meetings, many are missing the informal interactions, the social connections, the spontaneous discussions in the day-to-day digital work life. The traditional business handshake has all but disappeared from the planet and many are wondering if it will …

Ambivalent Bosses: An Examination Of Supervisor Expressed Emotional Ambivalence On Subordinate Task Engagement, Jia Hui Lim, Kenneth Tai, Maryam Kouchaki

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Supervisors often have to manage conflicting and contradictory demands in increasingly dynamic work environments. In the process of doing so, they may express emotional ambivalence observed by subordinates. Drawing on emotions as social information (EASI) theory and research on unpredictability and stress, we examine when and why supervisor expressed emotional ambivalence influence subordinate outcomes. In two studies, we find that supervisor expressed emotional ambivalence is indirectly related to subordinate task engagement via supervisor unpredictability (Studies 1 and 2). In addition, supervisor unpredictability and anticipated stress serially mediate the effect of supervisor expressed emotional ambivalence on task engagement (Studies 3 and …

Generalist Versus Specialist Ceos And Acquisitions: Two-Sided Matching And The Impact Of Ceo Characteristics On Firm Outcomes, Guoli Chen, Sterling Huang, Philipp Meyer-Doyle

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Research Summary: To address endogeneity concerns stemming from firm-CEO matching, we deploy a two-sided matching model that identifies the complementarities arising from the CEO-firm match and subsequently account for these complementarities in empirical tests. Applying this approach, we examine how the nature of CEOs' human capital affects the acquisition behavior and performance of firms. We find that generalist CEOs (CEOs with a broader set of knowledge and skills) are more likely to engage in unrelated acquisitions than specialist CEOs (CEOs with a narrower but deeper set of knowledge and skills). We also find that the fit between the nature of …

Inspire But Don't Interfere: Managerial Influence As A Double-Edged Sword For Innovation, Fabiola Gerpott, Ronald Bledow, Jana Kuehnel

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Managers play a pivotal role in the innovation process; yet, the mechanisms through which managers enhance or undermine innovation are not well understood. Drawing upon self-concordance theory, we argue that managers can augment employees' self-concordance—defined as the congruence of goals and actions with inner values and preferences—through transformational behavior and thereby contribute to innovation. However, transformational behavior is closely coupled to another form of influence, namely, process management, the attempt to directly manage innovation-related activities. This form of managerial influence reduces employees' self-concordance and thereby undermines innovation. We test our conceptual model in a sample of 188 innovation projects using …

The Effects Of Tax Avoidance News On Employee Perceptions Of Managers And Firms: Evidence From Glassdoor.Com Ratings, Yoojin Lee, Shaphan Ng, Terry Shevlin, Aruhn Venkat

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine whether employee perceptions of managers and firms fall following tax avoidance news. Using S&P 500 firms and generalized difference-in-differences specifications, we find that tax avoidance news negatively affects employee perceptions of managers and firms. In cross-sectional tests, we find that (1) firms and managers in consumer-facing industries suffer larger employee-related perception changes from tax avoidance news compared to other firms, and (2) well-performing firms and their managers face smaller perception changes than other firms and managers. Overall, our results are consistent with tax avoidance news negatively affecting employee perceptions of managers and firms.

A Self-Regulation Model Of Leader Authenticity Based On Mindful Self-Regulated Attention And Political Skill, Erik Dietl, Jochen Reb

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Despite much research on leader authenticity, its antecedents remain poorly understood. We develop a self-regulatory model of leader authenticity. The model explains how both mindful self-regulated attention and political skill, as well as their interaction, are important for leaders to be authentic, and ultimately effective. Mindful self-regulated attention – a core dimension of mindfulness defined as sustained attention centered on the present moment – helps leaders stay connected to their core self amid the busyness of their (work) lives, allowing leaders to feel authentic. And, particularly in combination with political skill – a social effectiveness construct –, it helps leaders …

Situational Judgment Tests: From Low-Fidelity Simulations To Alternative Measures Of Personality And The Person-Situation Interplay, Filip Lievens, Philipp Schäpers, Christoph N. Herde

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In employment and education settings, Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) have made strong inroads. So far, however, they are still underutilized in personality research. The objective of this chapter is to outline how SJTs might be adapted to measure personality traits, shed light onto the person-situation interplay, and stimulate research on it. We start by discussing the traditional simulation-based view on SJTs, including information on their development and research results. Next, we show how more recent versions have started to assess people’s knowledge of relevant behavior related to personality traits. Finally, we specify various strategies as to how SJTs might be …

Pay For Performance: When Does It Fail?, Nirmalya Kumar, Madan Pillutla

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The consensus in social psychology is that monetary incentives for performance have a detrimental impact on individual performance. Yes, under certain specific and limited conditions, rewards can reduce performance. Yet pay for performance schemes are ubiquitous. How can we resolve this divergence between theoretical recommendations and observed practices? Nirmalya Kumar and Madan Pillutla recommend solving the problem by designing smarter incentives that avoid these detrimental effects.

Human Capital Leadership Insights: Solving Human Capital Challenges From The Business Perspective, Singapore Management University

Student Publications

In 2016, the Lee Kong Chian School of Business launched the Master of Human Capital Leadership (“MHCL”) program with the strategic objective of growing leaders to champion evidence-based human capital practices. The 2019 MHCL cohort took this a step further with their quest to share insights gained from studies and projects with industry stakeholders. This goal resonates with our mission -- to create and disseminate knowledge.

The Role Of Employee Proactive Behaviors In Influencing Supervisors’ Trust In Employees, Ngai Meng Ho

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In organizations, proactive employees make things happen. They anticipate, initiate, and drive meaningful changes for a better future. Such proactive behaviors can be manifested in different forms. Initiating work improvements and voicing for changes are examples of the different proactive behaviors commonly demonstrated by employees.

Empirical studies have associated proactive behaviors at work with a range of positive workplace outcomes. However, only limited research has examined how proactive behaviors might be related to one particularly important outcome, trust, i.e., whether an employee’s proactive behaviors will influence the supervisor’s trust toward the employee. Accordingly, in this present research, I conducted two …

What's On Job Seekers' Social Media Sites? A Content Analysis And Effects Of Structure On Recruiter Judgments And Predictive Validity, Liwen Zhang, Chad H. Van Iddekinge, John D. Arnold, Philip L. Roth, Filip Lievens, Stephen E. Lanivich, Samantha L. Jordan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Many organizational representatives review social media (SM) information (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) when recruiting and assessing job applicants. Despite this, very little empirical data exist concerning the SM information available to organizations or whether assessments of such information are a valid predictor of work outcomes. This multi-study investigation examines several critical issues in this emerging area. In Study 1, we conducted a content analysis of job seekers’ Facebook sites (n = 266) and found that these sites often provide demographic variables that U.S. employment laws typically prohibit organizations from using when making personnel decisions (e.g., age, ethnicity, religion), as well as …

Implementing Lasting Change: Hr In The Social Service Sector, Fermin Diez, Run Qian Ng

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The Human Resources (HR) practices in any organisation can make a big difference in its ability to implement the strategic plan (Thomas, Smith & Diez, 2013). This assertion points towards an additional question: Can a whole sector of the economy increase its overall capability and capacity by improving the overall HR abilities of the organisations in the sector? The Social Service Sector in Singapore has been undergoing just such a sector-wide transformation over the past 6 years, and provides a great opportunity to analyse empirically whether a systemic approach to improve the overall HR practices of the Social Service Agencies …

Value Creating Drivers For Effective Human Capital Management, Ser Keng Ang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

It is common for modern-day corporate leaders and academic writers to make claim that human resources is one of the most important assets in their organization (Guest, 2001). If that were the case, effective management of human capital would be a critical factor in the success of any organization. As an important organizational resource, human capital is expected to generate significant economic benefits from its deployment, development and retention (Flamholtz, 1999). There is widespread evidence that the effective use of human capital can also create durable competitive advantage for an organization (Barney, 1991; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Lado & Wilson, …

Salary Negotiation: Myths Busted, Abhijeet K. Vadera, Karyn Thye

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A negotiation expert and a compensation geek came together to answer some of the toughest salary negotiation questions from the Master of Human Capital Leadership (MHCL) 2020 graduate cohort. We hope that our combined experiences in this field would help shed some light on the complex world of salary negotiations.

A Social Network Analysis Of Jobs And Skills, Derrick Ming Yang Lee, Dion Wei Xuan Ang, Grace Mei Ching Pua, Lee Ning Ng, Sharon Purbowo, Eugene Wen Jia Choy, Kyong Jin Shim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this study, we analyzed job roles and skills across industries in Singapore. Using social network analysis, we identified job roles with similar required skills, and we also identified relationships between job skills. Our analysis visualizes such relationships in an intuitive way. Insights derived from our analyses are expected to assist job seekers, employers as well as recruitment agencies wanting to understand trending and required job roles and skills in today’s fast changing world.

I Don't Want To Go Back: Examining The Return To Physical Workspaces During Covid-19, Zihan Liu, Drake Van Egdom, Rhona Flin, Christiane Spitzmueller, Omolola Adepoju, Ramanan Krishnamoorti

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Objective: We study employee perspectives on return to physical workspaces to ultimately inform employers' and policy makers' decision making around the return to work during COVID-19. Methods: We tested the three-component conceptual model using survey data collected in the United States in May 2020 from samples of energy workers (N = 333). Results: Women, non-Caucasians, and employees living in multi-generational households were less willing to return. Concerns about childcare were negatively related to willingness to return, whereas organizational strategies for mitigating COVID-19 transmission at work were positively related to willingness to return. COVID-19 infections in an employees' network were also …

Two-Way Mentoring: How Employees Can Learn From One Another, Peeyush Gupta, Michelle D. Steward, James A. Narus, D.V.R Seshadri

Asian Management Insights

Vibrant cross-generational interactions can result in strong relationships being formed, as demonstrated in the case of Tata Steel Ltd.

When And Why Narcissists Exhibit Greater Hindsight Bias And Less Perceived Learning, Satoris S. Howes, Edgar E. Kausel, Alexander T. Jackson, Jochen Reb

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The present research sought to examine the impact of narcissism, prediction accuracy, and should counterfactual thinking—which includes thoughts such as “I should have done something different”—on hindsight bias (the tendency to exaggerate in hindsight what one knew in foresight) and perceived learning. To test these effects, we conducted four studies (total n = 727). First, in Study 1 we examined a moderated mediation model, in which should counterfactual thinking mediates the relation between narcissism and hindsight bias, and this mediation is moderated by prediction accuracy such that the relationship is negative when predictions are accurate and positive when predictions are …

Fostering Creativity At The Workplace, Marko Pitesa, Roy Chua, Smu Office Of Research

Research@SMU Infographics

A study recently conducted by SMU researchers has shown that the environment in which one grew up in may influence the amount of creativity he/she displays at the workplace. Managers and parents alike can intervene to enhance the individuals' creativity.

When Do Host Country Nationals Help Expatriates? The Roles Of Identification With The Multinational Enterprise And Career Development Support By The Subsidiary, Sachiko Yamao, Toru Yoshikawa, Soo Min Toh, Daijeong Choi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

One of the concerns of host country nationals (HCNs) who work alongside expatriates in subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is their career prospects in the organization. This study advances the literature of expatriate management in MNEs by spotlighting the roles of the HCNs’ identification with the MNE and career development support received by the HCNs as key factors affecting the HCNs’ decisions to provide help to expatriates. According to the data collected in four countries (Australia, China, India, and Singapore), the HCNs’ identification with the MNE and their perceived subsidiary support for career development are positively related to their extra-role …

The Role Of Situations In Situational Judgment Tests: Effects On Construct Saturation, Predictive Validity, And Applicant Perceptions, Philipp Schäpers, Patrick Mussel, Filip Lievens, Cornelius J. König, Jan-Philipp Freudenstein, Stefan Krumm

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Recent theorizing and empirical evidence suggesting thatsituational judgment tests (SJTs) are more context-independent than previouslythought has sparked a debate about the role of situation descriptions in SJTs.To contribute to this debate and add to our understanding of how SJTs work,this paper conceptually embeds SJT performance in a situation construal modeland examines the effects of situation descriptions on the construct saturationand predictive validity of SJT scores, as well as on applicant perceptions.Across two studies (N = 1,092 and 578) and different SJTs, personality andcognitive ability were equally important determinants of SJT performance regardlessof whether situation descriptions were presented or omitted. The …

Robustness, Sensitivity And Sampling Variability Of Pareto-Optimal Selection System Solutions To Address The Quality-Diversity Trade-Off, Wilfried De Corte, Paul Sackett, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In case that both the goals of selection quality and diversity are important, a selection system is Pareto-optimal (PO) when its implementation is expected to result in an optimal balance between the levels achieved with respect to both these goals. The study addresses the critical issue whether PO systems, as computed from calibration conditions, continue to perform well when applied to a large variety of different validation selection situations. To address the key issue, we introduce two new measures for gauging the achievement of these designs and conduct a large simulation study in which we manipulate 10 factors (related to …

Getting Back To The “New Normal”: Autonomy Restoration During A Global Pandemic, Eric M. Anicich, Trevor A. Foulk, Merrick R. Osborne, Jake Gale, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We investigate the psychological recovery process of full-time employees during the two-week period at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Past research suggests that recovery processes start after stressors abate and can take months or years to unfold. In contrast, we build on autonomy restoration theory to suggest that recovery of impaired autonomy starts immediately even as a stressor is ongoing. Using growth curve modeling, we examined the temporal trajectories of two manifestations of impaired autonomy—powerlessness and (lack of) authenticity—to test whether recovery began as the pandemic unfolded. We tested our predictions using a unique experience-sampling dataset collected over …

Adaptive Mindset: An Effective Approach To Leadership In Cross-Cultural Contexts, Francis Lotzer

Asian Management Insights

Understanding cultural signals by exploring the ‘hidden part of the iceberg’ and communicating the benefits of change to team members.

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 …

Removing Situation Descriptions From Situational Judgment Test Items: Does The Impact Differ For Video-Based Versus Text-Based Formats?, Philipp Schäpers, Filip Lievens, Jan-Philipp Freudenstein, Joachim Hüffmeier, Cornelius J. König, Stefan Krumm

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Recent research has shown that many text-based situational judgment test (SJT) items can be solved even when the situational descriptions in the item stems are not presented to test takers. This finding challenges the traditional view of SJTs as low-fidelity simulations that rely on ‘situational’ (context-dependent) judgment. However, media richness theory and construal level theory suggest that situation descriptions presented in a richer and more concrete format (video format) will reduce uncertainty about inherent requirements and facilitate the perception that the situation is taking place in the here and now. Therefore, we hypothesized that situational judgment would be more important …