Reading the room: Leveraging popular business books to enhance organizational performance

Managers need to think creatively about ways to improve organizational performance. We explore one such tool. Popular business books that offer unique takes on important topics can serve as an effective tool to engage workers and lead them to new understandings. In particular, we discuss the key insights for organizations offered by ten classic and popular bestselling business books. Each one offers enduring lessons of value for employees interested in helping their organizations become more successful.     

CEO Power and Relative Performance Evaluation

We model relative performance evaluation (RPE) when a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has the power to opportunistically influence the design of RPE by choosing the weight on an index‐based peer group or by customizing the selection of peers comprising a peer group. A powerful CEO compares the benefits of reducing common risk affecting his compensation with the benefits of receiving a higher bonus by economizing on expected peer‐group performance. As a consequence, the Board of Directors (BoD) is less likely to use RPE. Our analytical model yields hypotheses predicting that powerful CEOs choose to reduce common risk only partially and that BoDs choose to not implement RPE if expected peer performance is sufficiently high. Our model has further empirical implications in (i) providing new interpretations of tests for detecting strong‐form and weak‐form RPE in the presence of powerful CEOs, and (ii) suggesting a new empirical measure of CEO power with a focus on the delegation of RPE decision rights.     

Theory Development in Enterprise Systems and Organizational Learning

Despite the wide-spread attention focused on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems by both researchers and practitioners, there remain gaps in understanding their implementation and impacts. The majority of ERP research concerns either critical success factors or ERP effects. Very little has been done with regard to the relationship between ERP and organizational learning (OL). Much of the existing literature in this area focuses on learning during system implementation with a small amount of additional literature focusing on learning resulting from or connected to ERP use. The work of integrating research on ERP implementation and post-implementation effects is begun by identifying the use of OL as a lens for understanding these two phenomena. The paper makes two unique contributions to the existing literature. First, a case is built for ERP support of OL by emphasizing ERP decision-support capabilities. Second, a set of existing theoretical constructs is put forward as a possible basis for investigating the relationship between ERP implementation learning and post-implementation support of OL. Finally, the paper outlines areas for future investigation and provides a basic investigative framework to be pursued. Given that this research identifies connections between the two forms of learning, it is possible that what is represented is a lifecycle of OL within the ERP implementation/post-implementation chain of events.     

Workplace bullying and absenteeism: The mediating roles of poor health and work engagement

Workplace bullying is a major problem that affects the well‐being and productivity of employees. Some previous studies have found that workplace bullying is associated with absenteeism, which is a major contributor to lost workplace productivity. However, a comprehensive understanding of how different workplace bullying experiences are associated with absenteeism is currently lacking. In particular no previous studies have examined potential mediators of these relationships. The present article aimed to provide new insights into the relationship between workplace bullying and absenteeism. In a 12‐month prospective study of 500 Australian employees, we identified 5 distinct subtypes of workplace bullying experiences using a person‐centred approach. These bullying subtypes were found to be associated with absenteeism via health impairment and lower work engagement. The findings can be used to inform HR strategies to prevent and manage workplace bullying.     

Are Antidumping Duties for Sale? Case‐Level Evidence on the Grossman‐Helpman Protection for Sale Model

Do contributions to politicians affect trade policy? To examine this question, we have compiled a new, unique database containing information on political donations by the specific firms and labor organizations that have petitioned for antidumping protection from imports, as well as data on the outcomes of their requests. Using an empirical framework based on the 1994 “protection for sale” model, we examine the relationship between antidumping decisions and political activism. Our results indicate that money does matter. We find that politically active petitioners are more likely to receive protection and that antidumping duty rates tend to be higher for that group. In addition, the relationship between the import penetration ratio and duties imposed depends on whether or not petitioners are politically active—antidumping duties are positively correlated with the import penetration ratio for politically inactive petitioners but negatively correlated for politically active petitioners, consistent with the Grossman‐Helpman model's predictions.     

Horizon‐Dependent Underreaction in Financial Analysts' Earnings Forecasts*

This paper provides empirical evidence that underreaction in financial analysts' earnings forecasts increases with the forecast horizon, and offers a rational economic explanation for this result. The empirical portion of the paper evaluates analysts' responses to earnings‐surprise and other earnings‐related information. Our empirical evidence suggests that analysts' earnings forecasts underreact to both types of information, and the underreaction increases with the forecast horizon. The paper also develops a theoretical model that explains this horizon‐dependent analyst underreaction as a rational response to an asymmetric loss function. The model assumes that, for a given level of inaccuracy, analysts' reputations suffer more (less) when subsequent information causes a revision in investor expectations in the opposite (same) direction as the analyst's prior earnings‐forecast revision. Given this asymmetric loss function, underreaction increases with the risk of subsequent disconfirming information and with the disproportionate cost associated with revision reversal. Assuming that market frictions prevent prices from immediately unraveling these analyst underreac‐tion tactics, investors buying (selling) stock on the basis of analysts' positive (negative) earnings‐forecast revisions also benefit from analyst underreaction. Therefore, the asymmetric cost of forecast inaccuracy could arise from rational investor incentives consistent with a preference for analyst underreaction. Our incentives‐based explanation for underreaction provides an alternative to psychology‐based explanations and suggests avenues for further research.     

Faculty Responsibilities in Dealing with Collegiate Cheating: A Student Development Perspective

Recent research has demonstrated that business students have more tolerant attitudes toward cheating (Roig and Ballew, 1994), tend to believe they need unethical beliefs in order to complete their degrees (Lane and Schaupp, 1989), and are more likely to cheat than non-business students (Baird, 1980; McCabe and Trevino, 1995). Given the importance of this issue, this paper discusses the responsibilities of faculty members in dealing with collegiate cheating. A student development perspective (Kibler, 1993; Sanford, 1966) is used to articulate these responsibilities. Three other perspectives are discussed with respect to each viewpoint's limitations to students' development. In addition, based on empirical, theoretical, and experimental information, strategies for managing classroom cheating are offered within the framework of the student development perspective. Special attention is paid to issues relevant to business students and faculty throughout the paper.     

Building and Delivering the Virtual World: Commercializing Services for Internet Access

This study analyzes the service offerings of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the commercial suppliers of Internet access in the United States. It presents data on the services of 2089 ISPs in the summer of 1998. By this time many ISPs had begun to offer services other than basic access. This paper develops an Internet access industry product code which classifies these services. Significant heterogeneity across ISPs is found in the propensity to offer these services, a pattern with an unconditional urban/rural difference. Most of the explained variance in behavior arises from firm-specific factors, with some evidence of location-specific factors.     

A soft touch? British industry,empire markets,and the self‐governing dominions,c.1870–1914

The belief that Britain's empire markets were soft is well entrenched in the literature. It is, however, a belief that has been largely untested. Indeed, the literature does not even offer an explicit definition of softness. This article attempts to fill this gap by discussing the meaning of the term and then posing the question whether between 1870 and 1914 Britain's fastest growing markets—Australasia and Canada—can in fact reasonably be labelled soft, as has often been assumed. The article concludes that the demand for British imports in these markets was driven more by considerations of income and price than by colonial sentiment or preference.