Management

Sometimes You Need a Reminder: The Effects of Prompting Self-Regulation on Regulatory Processes, Learning, and Attrition

Traci Sitzmann and Katherine Ely
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 95, Issue 1, pp. 132-144

Prompting self-regulation involves asking trainees reflective questions to stimulate self-regulatory engagement. Research has found positive effects for prompting self-regulation on learning, but a scarcity of evidence exists regarding whether self-regulatory processes mediate the effect of prompting self-regulation, whether the intervention reduces attrition, and the optimal timing of implementing the intervention. Using a longitudinal design, we found that prompting self-regulation throughout training increased learning and reduced attrition, relative to the control condition. Moreover, the effect on learning was fully mediated by time on task. The intervention also moderated the effect of learning on subsequent self-regulatory activity and attrition. Learning performance had less of a positive effect on subsequent self-regulatory activity and less of a negative effect on subsequent attrition when trainees were prompted to self-regulate. These results highlight the importance of adopting a longitudinal design to examine how self-regulatory interventions affect the cyclical relationships among self-regulatory processes, learning, and attrition.

Accounting, Finance

The Shareholder Wealth Effects of an Executive Joining Another Company’s Board

John Byrd, L. Ann Martin, and Subhrendu Rath
International Journal of Managerial Finance, Volume 6 Issue 1, pp. 48-57

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of high‐level‐executives joining the Board of another US company on the shareholder wealth of the firms in which these executives work.
Design/methodology/approach – The “event‐study” methodology is used first to estimate the shareholder effects and then, through multivariate regression analysis, establish a relationship of these effects with executive characteristics.
Findings – The paper documents that the abnormal return becomes more positive the closer the executive is to retirement and more negative as the number of other corporate Boards the executive already sits on increases. Unlike previous research, it is not found that prior performance of the employing company helps explain the cross‐sectional variation in the announcement day abnormal returns.
Research limitations/implications – The result supports the concerns of shareholder activists that key executives joining the Boards of other companies do their home shareholders a disservice by being spread too thin. It supports the hypothesis that investors interpret a CEO joining the Board of another firm as value decreasing.
Originality/value -The paper provides a link between managerial labor and shareholder wealth. Important and high‐level‐executives, while attempting to enhance their own personal benefits by joining other Boards, can destroy shareholder value of the company for which they work.

Finance

Nonlinearity, data-snooping, and stock index ETF return predictability

Jian Yang, Juan Cabrerab and Tao Wang
European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 200 Issue 2,  pp. 498-507

This paper examines daily return predictability for eighteen international stock index ETFs. The out-of-sample tests are conducted, based on linear and various popular nonlinear models and both statistical and economic criteria for model comparison. The main results show evidence of predictability for six of eighteen ETFs. A simple linear autoregression model, and a nonlinear-in-variance GARCH model, but not several popular nonlinear-in-mean models help outperform the martingale model. The allowance of data-snooping bias using White’s Reality Check also substantially weakens otherwise apparently strong predictability.

Entrepreneurship, Information Systems

Factors Influencing Corporate Online Identity: A New Paradigm

Steven Walczak and Dawn Gregg
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce, Vol 4, Issue 3,  pp. 17-29.

Electronic commerce research has shown that factors like website quality and vendor reputation influence consumer behaviors, including: trust, intention to transact, and return visits. However, these factors are typically studied in isolation and frequently show conflicting results. This paper proposes a unifying model of online identity (or e-image) that combines the various factors that influence user perceptions of an e-business. Survey results support the importance of a wide variety of e-image factors when forming impressions online and show that while information content is the foremost concern for most users, other factors vary depending on the role of the user in establishing a relationship with the owner of the online identity.

Accounting, Information Systems

Information technology acceptance in the internal audit profession: Impact of technology features and complexity

Hyo-Jeong Kim, Michael Mannino, and Robert J. Nieschwietz
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 214-228

Although various information technologies have been studied using the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study of acceptance of specific technology features for professional groups employing information technologies such as internal auditors (IA) has been limited. To address this gap, we extended the TAM for technology acceptance among IA professionals and tested the model using a sample of internal auditors provided by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). System usage, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use were tested with technology features and complexity. Through the comparison of TAM variables, we found that technology features were accepted by internal auditors in different ways. The basic features such as database queries, ratio analysis, and audit sampling were more accepted by internal auditors while the advanced features such as digital analysis, regression/ANOVA, and classification are less accepted by internal auditors. As feature complexity increases, perceived ease of use decreased so that system usage decreased. Through the path analysis between TAM variables, the results indicated that path magnitudes were significantly changed by technology features and complexity. Perceived usefulness had more influence on feature acceptance when basic features were used, and perceived ease of use had more impact on feature acceptance when advanced features were used.

Information Systems

Mashups: A Literature Review and Classification Framework

Brandon A. Beemer and Dawn Gregg
Future Internet, Vol. 1 Issue 1, pp. 59-87.

The evolution of the Web over the past few years has fostered the growth of a handful of new technologies (e.g. Blogs, Wiki’s, Web Services). Recently web mashups have emerged as the newest Web technology and have gained lots of momentum and attention from both academic and industry communities. Current mashup literature focuses on a wide array of issues, which can be partially explained by how new the topic is. However, to date, mashup literature lacks an articulation of the different subtopics of web mashup research. This study presents a broad review of mashup literature to help frame the subtopics in mashup research.

Management

Realities of Working in Virtual Teams: Affective and Attitudinal Outcomes of Using Computer-Mediated Communication

Johnson, Stefanie K.,  Bettenhausen, Kenneth and Gibbons, Ellie
Small Group Research, Vol. 40 Issue 6,  pp. 623-649

Many organizations are using computer-mediated communication to facilitate group work among virtual teams. However, little is known about the effects of using computer-mediated communication on team member outcomes. Examining use of computer-mediated communication as a continuum, the authors found that team members who used computer-mediated communication more often experienced lower levels of positive affect while working with their teams and had lower levels of affective commitment to their teams. Positive affect mediated the relationship between use of computer-mediated communication and affective commitment. Moreover, this study identified a tipping point (using computer-mediated communication more than 90% of the time) at which the use of computer-mediated communication was particularly detrimental to team outcomes.

Management

Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Performance Evaluations: Distributive Justice or Injustice?

Johnson, Stefanie, Holladay, Courtney and Quinones, Miguel
Journal of Business & Psychology; Vol. 24  Issue 4,  pp. 409-418.

The purpose of this study was to examine employees’ reactions to the use of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in performance evaluations. In addition, gender differences in such reactions were examined. Data were obtained from a sample of working adults ( n = 78) and a sample of students ( n = 249). In the first study, participants compared the fairness of 11 different weighting combinations of OCB and core task behavior, using a within-subjects design. In the second study, low, medium, and high weightings of OCB were compared using a between-subjects design. In both studies, participants reported that evaluating employees on OCB was fair. OCB weightings of 30– 50% were perceived as the most fair. Men felt that OCB weighting of 20–30% were the most fair and women felt that OCB weightings of 25–50% were the most fair. Considering that employees are evaluated on their OCB, it is important to know that they feel that it is fair to do so. Choosing how heavily to weigh OCB may be more difficult, although weightings of 25–30% OCB were perceived to be fair to both the men and women in this research. This is the first study to examine employee reactions to the use of OCB in performance evaluations and add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that there are gender differences in the perceptions of OCB.

Business Analytics

Managing Case Discussions in Introductory Business Statistics Classes: Practical Approaches for Instructors

Smith, Marlene A. and Bryant, Peter G.
American Statistician, Vol. 63 Issue 4,  pp. 348-355

Case discussions have become an integral component of our business statistics courses. We have discovered that case discussion adds enormous benefits to the classroom and learning experience of our students even in a quantitatively based course like statistics. As we read about discussion-based methods, we discovered that the literature is mostly silent about the specific challenges of case teaching in statistics courses. This article is an attempt to fill that void. It provides a “how-to” starter’s guide for those interested in incorporating case discussions in statistics courses. It includes resources for background reading, tips on setting up a statistics case discussion course, and examples of four specific case discussions involving statistics topics. An illustrative case and instructor’s notes that can be used on the first day of class are provided as well. Because we have had mixed reactions to conducting case discussions online, we believe that the use of case discussion in distance education statistics courses is a fruitful area for experimentation and research. Although our experience is in the business statistics classroom, this article is also applicable to statistics courses in other disciplines.

Finance

Out-of-Sample Predictability in International Equity Markets: A Model Selection Approach

Xiaojing Su, Tao Wang and Jian Yang
Financial Review, Vol. 44 Issue 4, p559-582

For 13 major international stock markets, there is much evidence of out-of-sample predictability for growth stocks especially when evaluated with economic criteria, and to a noticeably lesser extent for general stock markets and value stocks. Our results shed light on the recent debate about stock return predictability, using different assets (growth-style indexes), forecasting variables (past returns), forecasting models (nonlinear models), and alternative forecasting evaluation criteria (economic criteria). Our analysis suggests that (growth) stock returns might be predictable.

Information Systems

Developing a Collective Intelligence Application for Special Education

Gregg, Dawn G.
Decision Support Systems, Vol. 47 Issue 4, pp. 455-465.

This research uses an action research methodology to develop a web-based collective intelligence application, DDtrac. DDtrac allows special education practitioners to collect data and share insights related to student performance during educational tasks and social interactions and can be used to assess special education student progress and improve decision making. A survey of 40 special education professionals and a four year case study using a single subject both indicate that educators, clinicians, families, parents, or other professionals that work with individuals with developmental disabilities achieve tangible benefit from the real time data tracking and decision support provided by the DDtrac application. The development of the DDtrac application and subsequent end-user evaluation is used to develop a set of six requirements for collective intelligence applications. These requirements can be used to guide future developers seeking to create web-based applications that harness the collective intelligence of groups.

Management

Do you feel what I feel? Mood contagion and leadership outcomes

Johnson, Stefanie K.
Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 20 Issue 5, pp. 814-827

This research examines the role of mood and mood contagion in a leadership situation. In phase 1 of the study participants received a positive or negative mood induction and completed a leadership speech describing how to complete a hiring task. In phase 2, participants watched one of the speeches from phase 1, completed ratings, and performed the hiring task. Followers in the positive mood condition had higher levels of positive mood and lower levels of negative mood, rated their leaders as more charismatic, and performed better than followers in the negative mood condition. Followers” mood mediated the relationship between leader mood and follower outcomes. In the third phase of the study, participants read transcripts of the speeches from phase 2 but experienced no change in mood or performance, suggesting the previous effects found in phase 2 were due to mood contagion rather than the content of the speeches.

Management

Scale coarseness as a methodological artifact: Correcting correlation coefficients attenuated from using coarse scales

Aguinis, H., Pierce, C. A., & Culpepper, S. A.
Organizational Research Methods , Vol. 12 Issue 4, pp. 623-652

Scale coarseness is a pervasive yet ignored methodological artifact that attenuates observed
correlation coefficients in relation to population coefficients. The authors describe how to
disattenuate correlations that are biased by scale coarseness in primary-level as well as metaanalytic studies and derive the sampling error variance for the corrected correlation. Results of two Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the correction procedure is accurate and show the extent to which coarseness biases the correlation coefficient under various conditions (i.e., value of the population correlation, number of item scale points, and number of scale items).
The authors also offer a Web-based computer program that disattenuates correlations at the primary-study level and computes the sampling error variance as well as confidence intervals for the corrected correlation. Using this program, which implements the correction in primary- level studies, and incorporating the suggested correction in meta-analytic reviews will lead to more accurate estimates of construct-level correlation coefficients.

Management

Understanding perceived organizational identity during crisis and change: A threat/opportunity framework

Sarah Kovoor-Misra
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 22 Issue 5, p494-510

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for predicting the role and effects of perceived organizational identity (POI) on organizational members’ perceptions and behaviors during crisis and change situations, and the scope of the resulting POT changes that may occur. Design/methodology/approach – The paper brings together research on crisis, change, threat/opportunity, and POI, along with case study data to create a threat/opportunity framework for making these predictions. Findings – Based on whether threat or opportunity is perceived during crisis and change situations, different aspects of individuals’ POIs will become salient. In threat situations, individuals will focus on perceptions of “who we are.” In opportunity situations, individuals will also focus on “who we could be.” The focus of attention and the threat/opportunity context will influence organizational identification, learning, and openness to change; and whether incremental or transformational POI change occurs. The perception of “who we could be” will motivate more change than the ideal organizational identity or the image of “who we want to be” that is typically studied in the literature. The scope of POI change is also dependent on perceptions of identity cost and the identity gap. Research limitations/implications – Future research can test the hypotheses suggested here in various crisis and change contexts. Also, differentiating between threat and opportunity contexts is important for understanding the role of POI, and the extent to which POI changes can occur in crisis and change situations. Studies of resistance to POI change could consider whether individuals perceived the identity cost and the identity gap as being too low. More research on POI in opportunity contexts could expand understanding of the POI image of “who we could be” in motivating POI change. Finally, further integration of the literature on crisis and change can benefit both fields. Practical implications – Practitioners can predict which aspects of POI will become salient in threat and opportunity conditions, and manage their different effects. For individuals to learn and change their POIs during crisis and change situations, managers need to diminish heightened perceptions of threat and shift the focus of attention to “who we could be.” Top managers’ claims of “who we could be” need to be perceived by organizational members as being desirable and attainable in order to be motivating. Finally, to create transformational POI change, executives need to highlight the identity cost of not changing, and the size of the identity gap. Originality/value – The threatlopportunity framework enables new predictions of the role and effects of POI in crisis and change situations. The paper highlights the POI image of “who we could be,” defines incremental and transformational POI change, redefines the identity gap concept, and introduces the notion of identity cost to provide a framework for predicting the scope of POI change that has received limited research attention. Finally, the paper contributes to research on POI in opportunity-oriented conditions, and integrates research on crisis and change.

Entrepreneurship, Information Systems

Online Reputation Scores: How well are they Understood?

Gregg, Dawn G.
Journal of Computer Information Systems , Fall, pp. 90-97.

This paper presents a study comparing existing reputation systems to determine if the different reputation system designs are equally capable of eliciting meaningful feedback from users and if the information from these systems is equally useful for evaluating whether or not to purchase from a given seller. A survey of online consumers and data from both the eBay and the Amazon reputation systems are used to determine the impact of reputation system design on overall system effectiveness. Results of this research indicate that the five-star response system used by Amazon may be more useful to users attempting to determine which sellers to buy from.

Business Analytics

Student-to-Student Interaction Revisited: A Case Study of Working Adult Business Students in Online Courses

Kellogg, Deborah L. and Smith, Marlene A.
Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Vol. 7 Issue 2, pp. 433-456

Faculty teaching in online environments are universally encouraged to incorporate a variety of student-to-student learning activities into their courses. Although there is a body of both theoretical and empirical work supporting this, adult professional students participating in an online MBA program at an urban business school reported being at best indifferent and often negative regarding these learning activities. A case study was performed to explore how pervasive this attitude was and the possible reasons for it. Through various sources of data and exploration, we discovered that common interactive modalities are not associated with either perceived learning or satisfaction. A content analysis of a data analysis course revealed that 64.5% of responses recalled student-to-student interactivities when responding to a “learned least from” query. We identified three possible reasons for these negative responses: time inefficiency, interaction dysfunction, and flexibility intrusion. We conclude that, although some working professional students probably do learn from student-to-student interactivity, the costs incurred may be too great. If working adult students present a different profile than those students typically represented in academic research and thus have different needs and expectations, we may need to rethink the design of online education delivered to them.

Management

Using Web-based frame-of-reference training to decrease biases in personality-based job analysis: An experimental field study

Aguinis, H., Mazurkiewicz, M. D., & Heggestad, E. D.
Personnel Psychology Summer2009, Vol. 62 Issue 2, p. 405-438.

We identify sources of biases in personality-based job analysis (PBJA) ratings and offer a web-based frame-of-reference (FOR) training program to mitigate these biases. Given the use of job analysis data for the development of staffing, performance management, and many other human resource management systems, using biased PBJA ratings is likely to lead to a workforce that is increasingly homogenous in terms of personality, but not necessarily a workforce with improved levels of performance. We conducted a field experiment (i.e., full random assignment) using two independent samples of employees in a city government and found evidence in support of the presence of biases as well as the effectiveness of the proposed solution. Specifically, FOR training was successful at decreasing the average correlation between job incumbents’ self-reported personality and PBJA ratings from .27 to .07 (administrative support assistants) and from .30 to .09 (supervisors). Also, FOR training was successful at decreasing mean PBJA ratings by d = .44 (administrative support assistants) and by d = .68 (supervisors). We offer the entire set of web-based FOR training materials for use in future research and applications.

University of Colorado Denver Business School