Adjustments in performance measures: Distributive and procedural justice effects on outcome satisfaction

Adjustments for task difficulty occur regularly in performance evaluations, but their effects on satisfaction with the evaluation process has not been studied. This article reports an experiment examining the procedural and distributive justice effects of making adjustments for task difficulty in performance evaluation. Participants examined territory difficulty and sales‐volume data for a set of salespeople and rated a focal salesperson's performance. Subjects also rated their satisfaction with their performance rating and the fairness of the process. Results show that adjusting for territory (task) difficulty influences satisfaction through an intrapersonal referent effect and through procedural fairness judgments. Results also show that an intrapersonal referent effect occurs even when social‐comparison information is available; the two referents appear to have additive rather than interactive effects. Consistent with the work of van den Bos, Lind, Vermunt, and Wilkie (1997), the procedural justice effect of adjusting for territory difficulty occurs only in the absence of social‐comparison information. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Capital flows and financial crises: Theory versus realityCapital flows and financial crises Edited by Miles Kahler Cornell University Press, 1998, 268 pp.

The bookCapital Flows and Financial Crises contains nine scholarly essays written by authors such as Barry Eichengreen, Albert Fishlow, Carrmen M. Reinhart, Vincent Raymond Reinhart, and Jeffrey D. Sachs. The essays are grounded in reality and include a detailed review of capital control usage in emerging countries. Four of the essays are case studies that explain how different conditions and levels of development may lead to different policies with varying degrees of success.Capital Flows and Financial Crises encourages economists to consider the particulars of a developing country before applying an economic cure, reexamines accepted economic theory in light of recent financial crises, and suggests a more moderate approach to financial liberalization given the inefficiencies and lack of regulation in emerging markets.     

The effect of tax rates and uncertainty on contributory crowding out

This uncertain dictator experiment found support for partial crowding out. Ninety-seven percent of private contributions were crowded out when tax rates were increased from 0 to 10 percent of income. Subjects who were uncertain whether they would be the donor or charity recipient pledged larger contributions and had lower levels of crowding out. Crowding out appeared asymmetric in that decreases in government contributions did not stimulate equivalent increases in private contributions. In the case of certainty, donors actually decreased contributions when government contributions decreased. The donor's gender did not influence contributory behavior.Funding for this experiment was provided by the Dean of the School of Business and Public Affairs.     

Same as it ever was: the search for evidence of increasing hypercompetition

Some strategy scholars and practitioners contend that markets have become increasingly hypercompetitive in recent years. We examine this contention by analyzing industry and business performance patterns in a broad sample of firms drawn from the Compustat Industry Segment database for the 1978–97 period. We find little support for the argument that markets have become more hypercompetitive. From the late 1970s to the late‐1980s we observe decreased performance and market stability, consistent with increasing hypercompetition contentions. From the late 1980s to the mid‐1990s, however, trends reverse and performance and market stability increase. For strategy research, our results suggest that hypercompetitive perspectives are important but no more so now than they were in recent years. For practice, our results suggest that managers today face markets no more dynamic and opportunities to gain and sustain competitive advantage no more challenging than in the past. Accordingly, they should continue developing a portfolio of skills to manage businesses whether conditions are increasingly stable or unstable. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meeting Magnet research evidence-based practice expectations through hospital-based research centers

Hospital-based nursing research centers can create the structures and processes needed to promote and sustain research and evidence-based practice (EBP) and assist in the monitoring of care delivery outcomes. At the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, a highly successful nursing research center has succeeded in creating a Magnet environment that incorporates research and EBP into strategic planning, individual employee performance review, and organizational processes. Support of a hospital-based research center can provide the foundation for an infrastructure that supports achievement of Magnet designation research and EBP criteria. The costs pertain primarily to the staff required to develop and manage the center and the educational programs offered through it. Based on the experience at this center, administrators should plan 3-5 years before significant impact is seen in terms of numbers of consultations performed and tangible increases in staff and leadership participation in research and EBP initiatives.     

Calculating the Candy Price Index: A Classroom Inflation Experiment

In this classroom experiment, students develop a price index based on candy-purchasing decisions made by members of their class. They use their index to practice calculating inflation rates and to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the consumer price index (CPI). Instructors can use the experiment as an introduction to the topic of inflation and how it is measured. The exercise also provides a concrete example of the sources of bias in the CPI, promoting discussion of the measures the Bureau of Labor Statistics has taken to reduce bias. The experiment, including follow-up discussion, fits into a 50-minute class period. The authors and other professors have used the exercise in introductory and intermediate macroeconomics courses, in classes of 10 to 135 students.     

Cuba—Is the “Special Period” Really Over?

Since 1989, Cuba has struggled to recover from the loss of Soviet trade and subsidies. The Cuban government dubbed the period between 1990 and 1994 A Special Period in Peacetime in recognition of the 35% decline in GDP. Instead of restructuring its economy, the Cuban government used a bandaid approach that permitted self-employment, raised prices, legalized the dollar, and decreased government subsidies of state enterprises. Although growth resumed in 1994, the Cuban economy never fully recovered to pre-1989 levels of GDP. This paper discusses the investment, trade, and production problems that continue to plague the Cuban economy.     

Longitudinal effects of job insecurity on employee outcomes: The moderating role of emotional intelligence and the leader-member exchange

The longitudinal study reported herein examines the buffering effects of individual and social resources (emotional intelligence and the leader-member exchange relationship) on the relationships between job insecurity and employee reactions (somatic complaints and organizational commitment) and the relationships between employee reactions over time. The results of this study, which was based on data drawn from 157 nurses employed by three hospitals in China, indicate that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between job insecurity and somatic complaints at both Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) and that the leader-member exchange relationship (LMX) buffers the effects of somatic complaints at T1 on organizational commitment at T2. Overall, the findings reveal that the ability of employees to deal with their emotions and their relationships with their supervisors is an important resource that serves to protect employee outcomes when job security is uncertain.     

Best Value and the Control of Local Government: Challenges and Contradictions

This article offers some understanding of the early experience of implementing Best Value in the local authority sector. Implementation is dependent on how local government understands the concept; what local government is able to deliver; and what central government is prepared to accept. For the case study authority described in this article, Best Value is understood to depend on three deliverable 'cornerstones', embedded in a context that emphasises accountability, seeks to develop 'learning' and pursues change in organizational culture, emphasising the tenets of 'business excellence'. The authors conclude that Best Value represents an unusual cocktail of top-down concept and bottom-up realization, providing a new twist in the control of the local government sector.