Why we hate performance management—And why we should love it

Individual performance is a building block of organizational success. Not surprisingly, virtually all organizations have in place some type of performance management system. Yet, managers and employees are equally skeptical that performance management adds value; usually, it is seen as a waste of time and resources. We argue that the potential benefits of performance management are not realized because most systems focus exclusively on narrow and evaluative aspects such as performance appraisal. Herein, we offer a broader view of performance management, including discussion of how it differs from performance appraisal. We highlight specific and important benefits of performance management for employees, managers, and organizations. We also describe research-based conclusions regarding how performance management systems should be designed and implemented to realize these benefits. We hope our article will demonstrate that well-constructed performance management systems should not be hated, but rather embraced.     

Valuing customers for social network services

In the current Internet environment, many online service companies based on community factors (networks) produce and sell new types of digital products. For example, SNS (social network service) companies now sell customers digital decorative products for the adornment of online avatars. Not only do individual customers consume these digital products, but they also exchange them as gifts in their local neighborhoods. While previous studies on customer valuation (e.g. CLTV, RFM, etc.) focus on some important issues for identifying valuable customers, the literature does not resolve issues related to the effects on customer value of products purchased as gifts for another person. This study attempts to verify empirically the effects of two representative social network properties (tie strength and the number of ties) on customer monetary value.This study selects 2615 customers from a South Korean SNS website who enrolled on the site on the same day. Data include diverse purchase-related information, social network properties in terms of gift-giving for six months, and demographic information. The primary results of this study are as follows. First, the proposed model, which includes social network properties, has a great deal more explanatory power than the baseline model — the RFM-based customer value model. Second, tie strength and the number of ties in a gift-giving network increase customer value. Third, tie strength has a more profound impact on customer value than does the number of ties. The results of this study theoretically expand the domain of customer valuation studies due to the inclusion of social network properties, and suggest important practical implications for some online SNS companies in their efforts to find valuable customers and improve customer value.     

Mechanisms of perceived accountability in Korean NPOs: activating the dynamics of NPM-driven and confucian-driven cultures

Quality & Quantity - Non-profit organizations (NPOs) have been recognized as critical performers not only in the enhancement of social values and civic integration but also in the construction...     

Human Capital Factors Affecting Human Resource (HR) Managers' Commitment to HR and the Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Value on HR

Human resource (HR) managers’ commitment to their occupation (HR) leads to the proper delivery and implementation of HR practices and, therefore, is deemed as a critical factor for the success of HR practices. Based on sociocognitive, human capital, and signaling theories, this study examines: (a) HR managers’ own and their chief HR officer's (CHRO) HR‐specific human capital as antecedents of their commitment to HR, and (b) the mediating mechanism through which the CHRO’s HR‐specific human capital positively influences HR managers’ commitment to HR. Based on 146 HR managers from 146 organizations in South Korea, the findings of the current study suggest that HR managers with higher levels of HR‐specific human capital and those working with CHROs with higher levels of HR‐specific human capital tend to have higher levels of commitment to HR. In addition, CHROs with higher levels of HR‐specific human capital positively influence HR managers’ commitment to HR by signaling to them that HR and its function are valued and cared about by their organizations. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed along with study limitations and further research directions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Tourism and economic development: Which investments produce gains for regions?

Across three decades numerous metropolitan regions have made substantial investments in different tourist amenity packages. These investments were made to either capture a portion of the growing tourism market or establish an image that attracted the human capital needed to advance economic development. This article analyzes the returns for the tourism industry and for economic development from different amenity packages and finds those related to sports and amusements generated the most significant gains for regions.     

Advertising and brand attitudes: Evidence from 575 brands over five years

Quantitative Marketing and Economics - Little is known about how different types of advertising affect brand attitudes. We investigate the relationships between three brand attitude variables...     

Off‐Farm Work,Intensity of Government Payments,and Farm Exits: Evidence from a National Survey in the United States

The last three decades have witnessed the continued exit of households from primary agriculture in the United States, where the average annual gross exit rate has averaged 10% per year. Understanding exit behavior is one key to future farm structure, management of abandoned land, depopulation of rural areas, and agricultural policy, including government program payments. This study empirically estimates the determinants of exit decisions of farm households. Particular attention is given to the roles of intensity of government payments and off‐farm work decisions of farm couples in the exit decision. Using a large farm‐level survey and controlling for endogeneity, results indicate that farm households with reduced intensity of government payments are more likely to exit farming. Households where the operator spouse works off the farm are more likely to exit farming. Additionally, households with older farmers, with the farm operator and spouse raised on a farm, and households operating farms located in Northern Great Plains are more likely to exit farming.     

Vacaciones y licencias en países desarrollados: los Estados Unidos a la zaga en cuanto a equilibrio entre vida profesional y vida familiar

Los autores comparan las normativas sobre vacaciones y licencias susceptibles de facilitar el equilibrio entre vida profesional y familiar de Australia, Canadá, República de Corea, Estados Unidos, Europa occidental y Japón utilizando un índice compuesto para clasificarlas. Los Estados Unidos figuran en último lugar: la concesión de vacaciones anuales al trabajador no es obligatoria y las licencias por motivos familiares se limitan a 12 semanas al año. Este bajo nivel de reglamentación podría deberse, según los autores, a una concepción mercantilista del empleo sumada a la creencia de que empleador y trabajadores tienen idéntica capacidad de negociación, visión no compartida por las demás democracias industrializadas.     

Revenue implication of auction value in <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-price sealed-bid auctions: An experimental study

In this paper, we show that in a heterogeneous bidding community with predominantly risk-seeking bidders, third-price sealed-bid auctions yield higher revenue for the seller than first-price sealed-bid auctions when the auction value is low. Conversely, when the value of the auction is high, first-price sealed-bid auctions yield higher revenue for the seller than third-price sealed-bid auctions. Existing theoretical findings for a homogeneous group of risk-seeking individuals imply that third-price sealed-bid auctions should generate higher revenues for the seller than first-price sealed-bid auctions. Our results for low-value auctions agree but our results for high-value auctions do not agree with the existing findings. We discuss the implications of this discrepancy as a function of the shift in goal orientation from a win-focus to a value-focus as the value of the auction increases.