Category Archives: Management

Management

Litigation Support and Risk Management for Pretrial Discovery of Electronically Stored Information

Ruhnka, John and Bagby, John W

CPA Journal Vol. 77 Issue 5, pp. 50-56

The article offers suggestions regarding the management of electronic data discovery (EDD) in litigation in the U.S. Familiarity with EDD is necessary to conduct internal investigations, as well as to identify and disclose electronically stored information (ESI) to litigation opponents, regulators, or prosecutors. Many potential parties to a lawsuit are not knowledgeable about electronic records management (ERM) practices or their legal obligations when served with a discovery request.

Business Analytics, Management

Understanding the impact of test validity and bias on selection errors and adverse impact in human resource selection

Aguinis, Herman and Smith, Marlene A.
Personnel Psychology Vol. 60 Issue 1, p. 165-199

We propose an integrative framework for understanding the relationship among 4 closely related issues in human resource (HR) selection: test validity, test bias, selection errors, and adverse impact. One byproduct of our integrative approach is the concept of a previously undocumented source of selection errors we call bias-based selection errors (i.e., errors that arise from using a biased test as if it were unbiased). Our integrative framework provides researchers and practitioners with a unique tool that generates numerical answers to questions such as the following: What are the anticipated consequences for bias-based selection errors of various degrees of test validity and test bias? What are the anticipated consequences for adverse impact of various degrees of test validity and test bias? From a theory point of view, our framework provides a more complete picture of the selection process by integrating 4 key concepts that have not been examined simultaneously thus far. From a practical point of view, our framework provides test developers, employers, and policy makers a broader perspective and new insights regarding practical consequences associated with various selection systems that vary on their degree of validity and bias. We present a computer program available online to perform all needed calculations.

Management

The High Cost of Low Wages

Cascio, Wayne F.
Harvard Business Review Vol. 84 Issue 12, p. 23

This article compares Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club and Costco in terms of employee benefits and wages. The author claims that managing labor costs isn’t a bad idea, but stingy pay and benefits don’t necessarily translate to lower costs in the long run. With 338 stores and 67,600 full-time employees, Costco is the number one wholesaler, while Sam’s Club has 551 stores and 110,200 employees and is the number two wholesaler. Wages at Costco are much higher than those at Sam’s, and it is also more generous with its benefits. The difference, even though Costco’s practices are more expensive, is that Costco has a very low turnover and Sam’s Club a high one. Therefore, the annual cost of replacing employees is nearly three times more for Sam’s Club. Costco’s strategy for cost containment is employee loyalty.

Health Management, Management

Handling Emotional Reactions to Change

O’Connor, Edward J. and Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 32 Issue 6, p. 78-80

The article presents the authors’ views on handling individual emotional reactions to change. Individual emotional reactions to change go through several phases including naive confidence, denial, depression and informed hopefulness. It is important to understand and manage the transitions of people through these phases. After diagnosing a particular phase of emotional transition, specific actions can be taken toward the next phase of emotional transition.

Health Management, Management

Reclaiming Physician Power: Your Role as a Physician Executive

O’Connor, Edward J. and Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 32 Issue 6, p. 46-50

The article discusses various issues related to physician morale. According to a survey, physicians have tried to regain their autonomy in several ways. Physician attitudes and behaviors affect the cost, and quality of health services in many ways. Several clinical quality improvement initiatives launched by accreditation bodies, and government agencies are designed to address the identified quality problem.

Management

Computation of effect size for moderating effects of categorical variables in multiple regression

Aguinis, H., & Pierce, C. A.
Applied Psychological Measurement Vol. 30, Issue 3, p. 440-442
[available at http://carbon.ucdenver.edu/~haguinis/pubs.html ]

We provide a user-friendly description of a modified f 2 effect-size estimate for categorical moderator variables in multiple regression. We recommend that this modified f 2 statistic be used when the homogeneity of error variance assumption is violated. Many researchers in the social sciences may not report effect-size estimates because the tools needed to compute these estimates are not readily available. To increase researchers’ awareness of f 2 in general and to increase the accessibility of computing modified f 2 values, we also describe an on-line program that performs all computations needed and offer this program free-of-charge at the following URL: http://carbon.ucdenver.edu/~haguinis/mmr/fsquared. A benefit of using this program is that, once computed, researchers are able to compare the magnitude of their modified f 2 values to values commonly observed in the social sciences as determined by Aguinis, Beaty, Boik, and Pierce’s (2005) 30-year review of the size of moderating effects of categorical variables.

Management

Decency Means More than "Always Low Prices": A Comparison of Costco to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club

Cascio, Wayne F.
Academy of Management Perspectives Vol. 20 Issue 3, p. 26-37

Wal-Mart’s emphasis on “Always low prices. Always” has made it the largest retail operation in history. However, this unrelenting mission has also created a way of doing business that draws substantial criticism regarding the company’s employment practices, relationships with suppliers, and the company’s impact on local economies. This paper focuses on a company that delivers low prices to consumers, but in a fundamentally different way than its competitor, Wal-Mart. That company is warehouse-retailer Costco. In the following sections we will begin by providing some background on the company, including its history, its business model, its ethical principles, core beliefs, and values. Then we will consider some typical Wall Street analysts’ assessments of this approach, followed by a systematic comparison of the financial performance of Costco with that of Sam’s Club, a warehouse retailer that is part of Wal-Mart.

Management

Teaching the concept of the sampling distribution of the mean

Aguinis, H., & Branstetter, S. A.
Journal of Management Education Vol 31, Issue 4, 2007

We use proven cognitive and learning principles and recent developments in the field of educational psychology to teach the concept of the sampling distribution of the mean, which is arguably one of the most central concepts in inferential statistics. The proposed pedagogical approach relies on cognitive load, contiguity, and experiential learning theories and on the integration of new knowledge within previously formed knowledge structures. Thus, the proposed approach stimulates both visual and auditory learning, engages students in the process of learning through problem solving, and presents information so that it builds on existing knowledge. Results of an experiment including introductory statistics undergraduate students indicate that students exposed to the proposed theory-based pedagogical approach enhanced their learning by approximately 60%.

Management

The Economic Impact of Employee Behaviors on Organizational Performance

Cascio, Wayne
California Management Review Vol. 48 Issue 4, p. 41-59

The behavior of employees has important effects on the operating expenses of organizations in both the private and public sectors. While these effects are not widely known (or even, in some cases, appreciated by employers), they are, nonetheless, quite substantial. This article considers some key areas where the behavior of employees has a meaningful financial impact on their organizations. The areas it examines are: the effects of high- versus low-wage employment strategies on employee turnover and productivity; the importance of employee retention; absenteeism and presenteeism; healthcare costs associated with unhealthy lifestyles; employee attitudes; payoffs from training through development programs; and payoffs from the use of valid staffing procedures. While these areas are by no means exhaustive, they are representative of those that most employers encounter. This article also presents strategies for employers to improve the performance of their organizations by managing people wisely and illustrates its analysis through a comparison of the employment strategies of two well-known retailers, Costco and Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club.

Management

Guiding Organizational Identity Through Aged Adolescence

Corley, Kevin G., Harquail, Celia V., Pratt, Michael G., Glynn, Mary Ann, Fiol, C. Marlene, & Hatch, Mary Jo
Journal of Management Inquiry Vol. 15, Issue 2, p. 85-99

In this article, the authors reflect on the past two decades of research on organizational identity, looking to its history and to its future. They do not provide a review of the literature, nor do they promote a particular perspective on the concept. Instead, they advocate pluralism in studying organizational identity while encouraging clarity and transparency in the articulation of definitions and core theoretical suppositions. Believing there is no one best approach to the study of organizational identity, their intent is to establish a reference point that can orient future work on organizational identity. They focus on three questions they feel are critical: What is the nomological net that embeds organizational identity? Is organizational identity “real” (or simply metaphorical)? and How do we define and conceptualize organizational identity? Last, they try to anticipate organizational identity issues on the horizon to suggest future directions for theory and research.

Management

Examination Of Situational And Attitudinal Moderators Of The Hesitation And Performance Relation

Diefendorff, James M., Richard, Erin M., & Gosserand, Robin H.
Personnel Psychology Vol. 59, Issue 2, p. 365-393

The hesitation dimension of action-state orientation refers to the behavioral capacity to start action on tasks. In this study, job characteristics (autonomy and routineness) and job attitudes (satisfaction and involvement) were examined as moderators of the relation between hesitation and supervisor ratings of work behaviors (overall job performance and self-management performance) in 2 different samples. In both samples, routineness moderated the hesitation and self-management performance relation such that individuals low in hesitation performed better than individuals high in hesitation when routineness was low, but no differences in performance were observed when routineness was high. In addition, job satisfaction and job involvement were significant moderators of the relation between hesitation and self-management performance, with individuals low in hesitation performing better than individuals high in hesitation when satisfaction or involvement was low, but no differences in performance were observed when satisfaction or involvement was high.

Health Management, Management

Building the relationships required to influence others

O’Connor, Edward J. & Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 32, Issue 2, p. 68-69

A large, successful, multispecialty group practice held a spaghetti dinner. Physicians cooked spaghetti, served spaghetti, cleaned up and took a bit of ribbing. The people they were serving were their employees. The communication from the physicians was clear: All year long you serve us. Tonight we wish to serve you. We appreciate what you contribute. What have you done recently to express your appreciation, strengthen relationships and build the foundation for successfully influencing your people?

Management

The Legal/Regulatory/Policy Environment of Cyberforensics

Bagby, J.W. and Ruhnka, J.C.
Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law Vol. 1, Issue 2, p. 39-67

This paper describes a cyber-forensics course that integrates important public policy and legal issues as well as relevant forensic techniques. Cyber-forensics refers to the amalgam of multi-disciplinary activities involved in the identification, gathering, handling, custody, use and security of electronic files and records, involving expertise from the forensic domain, and which produces evidence useful in the proof of facts for both commercial and legal activities. The legal and regulatory environment in which electronic discovery takes place is of critical importance to cyber-forensics experts because the legal process imposes both constraints and opportunities for the effective use of evidence gathered through cyber-forensic techniques. This paper discusses different pedagogies that can be used (including project teams, research and writing assignments, student presentations, case analyses, class activities and participation and examinations), evaluation methods, problem-based learning approaches and critical thinking analysis. A survey and evaluation is provided of the growing body of applicable print and online materials that can be utilized. Target populations for such a course includes students with majors, minors or supporting elective coursework in law, information sciences, information technology, computer science, computer engineering, financial fraud, security and information assurance, forensic aspects of cyber security, privacy, and electronic commerce.

Health Management, Management

Creating readiness and involvement

O’Connor, Edward J. & Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 32, Issue 1, p. 72-74

Innovation is critical to long-term success in today’s health care environment. Change is accelerating, competition increasing and access to information expanding. Many health care providers try to ignore these changing demands while continuing to practice past behaviors. Others react by leaving the profession in order to avoid having to make the required adjustments. Neither strategy contributes much to generating the innovation required to effectively deliver care in today’s environment.

Health Management, Management

Focusing Your People: The Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

O’Connor, Edward J. & Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 32, Issue 1, p. 18-33

The article presents information on the focused entrepreneurial thinking to provide quality medical care and strong financial health. Entrepreneurial focus is the key ingredient that may mean the difference between surviving and thriving as an organization. A physician executive needs to encourage taking the steps required to ensure that one’s reward must support the organization’s people’s commitment to quality, safety, and contribution. People throughout health care organizations often do not judge the potential of values and visioning processes.

Management

The impact of contextual self-ratings and observer ratings of personality on the personality-performance relationship

Engel-Small, Erika A., and Diefendorff, James M.

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 36, Issue 2,  Pages 297-320

The present study examined two possible ways of increasing the predictive validity of personality measures: using observer (i.e., supervisor and coworker) ratings and work-specific self-ratings of the Big Five personality factors. Results indicated that among general self-ratings of the Big Five personality dimensions, Conscientiousness was the best predictor of in-role performance, and Agreeableness and Emotional Stability were the best predictors of extra-role performance. Observer ratings of personality accounted for incremental variance in job performance (in-role and extra-role) beyond that accounted for by general self-ratings. However, contrary to our expectations, work-specific (i.e., contextual) self-ratings of personality, generally did not account for incremental variance in job performance beyond that accounted for by general self-ratings.

Management

Electronic Data Discovery: Integrating Due Process into Cyber Forensic Practice

John W. Bagby and John C. Ruhnka
Journal of Digital Forensics Security and Law Vol. 1, Issue 1, p. 5-18

Most organizations and government agencies regularly become engaged in litigation with suppliers, customers, clients, employees, competitors, shareholders, prosecutors or regulatory agencies that nearly assures the need to organize, retain, find and produce business records and correspondence, e-mails, accounting records or other data relevant to disputed issues. This article discusses some high visibility cases that constrain how metadata and content is routinely made available to opposing parties in civil litigation, to prosecutors in criminal prosecutions and to agency staff in regulatory enforcement litigation. Public policy, as implemented in the rules of evidence and pretrial discovery, restrict electronic data discovery (EDD) as it becomes a predominant and potentially costly pre-trial activity pivotal to modern litigation. This article discusses these constraints while identifying opportunities for the interdisciplinary activities among litigators, forensic experts and information technology professionals.

Management

Revisiting the within-person self-efficacy and performance relationship

Richard, E. M., Diefendorff, J. M., & Martin, J. H.
Human Performance Vol. 19 Issue 1, pp. 67-87.

In response to recent debate regarding the direction of the relationship between self-efficacy and performance (Bandura & Locke, 2003; Vancouver, Thompson, Tischner, & Putka, 2002; Vancouver, Thompson, & Williams, 2001), the present investigation examines the within-person relationships between self-efficacy and performance over time in two different learning contexts. Study 1 examines the relationship using exam performance in a classroom context, and Study 2 examines the relationship using a computerized learning task in a lab setting. Both studies find a significant, positive within-person relationship between performance and subsequent self-efficacy. However, both studies fail to find the positive relationship between self-efficacy and subsequent performance predicted by social cognitive theory. Future research directions aimed at resolving the debate are discussed.

Health Management, Management

Resistance to Patient Safety Initiatives

O’Connor, Edward J. & Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 31 Issue 6, pp. 64-67

The article discusses how majority of medical errors are preventable through better systems, including the use of information technology, avoidance of similar sounding drugs and standardization of evidence-based protocols. Though the technology and systems critical to patient safety are available, medical errors continue in many health systems and limited progress has been made toward patient safety objectives. Resistance often blocks the implementation of needed changes. Open communication among people with different perspectives is a key requirement for minimizing this human barrier to improved patient safety outcomes.