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How to Negotiate the Best Retail Price: Baylor Expert Shares 11 Tips
Confidence in retail negotiations can lead to confidence in salary talks as well, management expert says In today’s retail climate, where stores struggle to keep up with online competition and customers can compare prices with the ease of their smartphones, the price tag is just a starting point for negotiations, said a negotiation expert at Baylor University. “No longer do you need to pay sticker price for everything you buy. The customer is now empowered to have a say in pricing, and even hourly retail workers are often empowered to give price discounts when requested,” said Emily Hunter, Ph.D., associate professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, and an expert in negotiation and conflict management. Hunter said negotiations – whether in a retail setting or in the workplace – require confidence. “Many people are hesitant to negotiate because they don’t know how or they are worried about the other person’s reaction (Will they think I’m greedy?),” she said. “But practice can increase your confidence in your ability to negotiate. Rejection is less common than you fear, and retail stores especially are often willing to work with you.” She offered the following tips to increase the chances of greater deals at the check-out counter. Be nice. First and foremost, always be kind and polite when asking for a discount in retail settings, Hunter said. You are much more likely to be successful if someone wants to help you out, as opposed to demanding a discount or raising your voice to puff up your sense of power. It’s not a power play. Instead, negotiating is a matter of give-and-take. Find defects. It is easier to negotiate an item if you can find something wrong with it. Most stores have a policy in place that allows cashiers and salespeople to offer a moderate discount (typically 10-15 percent), but when they offer it, be persistent and politely try to push them for more. “I’ve negotiated a rug because it was on the sales floor and had frayed edges, a metal cabinet with a dent in the back (Who will ever see that? It’s in the back!), and clothing with a slight stain,” Hunter said. “Point out the defect to the person you are negotiating with and ask for half off.” Look for mark-downs. If an item is marked down or “open-box,” then ask for further discounts, Hunter advised. Remember, the store already acknowledged that the item is worth less than original price and they are likely desperate to be rid of it quickly. “Borrow” a coupon during check-out. When making a purchase, Hunter said she is often asked the question: “Do you have a coupon?” Instead of saying no, she said it might save some money to consider another reply. “Whenever I’m asked this question at check-out, I reply, ‘No, do you have one I could use?’ This works more often than you might think and can result in sweet savings. No clipping required,” she said. Prepare yourself – quickly. When you see an item that could be a good opportunity to negotiate, Hunter said it’s best to prepare quickly with three steps. First, set a strong goal for yourself, usually in the form of a steep discount you will request. Second, set a “redline” price, the highest price you are willing to pay. Third, consider your best alternative – which might be purchasing the same item online for less – if negotiations fail. Find a BATNA. “In negotiation lingo, we call your best alternative your BATNA – Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement,” Hunter said. “In retail, it’s extremely important to shop around both at other stores and online to see if the same or a similar item is offered elsewhere for less. This can be your bargaining chip to ask for a discount.” She explained that most big-box stores now have a price-matching policy, but it’s worth trying to go beyond the price match and ask for an additional 10 percent discount, particularly if you agree to purchase at that moment. “Think about it from the store’s perspective,” she said. “They want to keep you from buying from major online retailers, so they might agree to a discount.” Ask for a higher discount than you’re seeking. Let’s say you’re seeking $200 off the price of a refrigerator. Hunter said it’s not wise to start your negotiation by asking for $200 off, because you are almost guaranteed to get less than that. “In negotiations, both sides expect some give-and-take, and the retailer is unlikely to accept your first offer,” she said. “Start by asking for $500 off the fridge and see what they say. Even better, back up your offer by pointing out a defect, a cheaper price online for the same product or evidence of a sale at the same store that just ended.” Pretend you own the business. Think from the seller’s perspective, Hunter advised. Consider what the seller wants from you, the customer. Besides the obvious answer of higher sales and profit, simply offering to write a review online could be very helpful, especially for small businesses. “I once got a great deal on a tool cabinet because I offered to write a positive review on the customer experience survey (you know, the one you get on your receipt that few people fill out?). The manager said that would be wonderful because his store performance is assessed partly based on those customer surveys and he really needed a good review that quarter,” Hunter said. Always negotiate furniture. Hunter said the markup on furniture is often extremely high, as much as 80 percent, and that makes furniture a target for negotiation. “I always negotiate when buying everything from mattresses to sofas to end tables,” she said. “Ask for big discounts at first, as you never know how desperate they are to rotate their stock. And try asking for steeper discounts if you buy multiple pieces, or buying a sofa set and getting the coffee table thrown in for free.” Choose your opponent wisely. When you choose to negotiate, make sure you’re dealing with the people who can make the decisions, Hunter said. Sometimes the clerks on the floor might not be the best option, so jump straight to the cashier or the manager to work with someone who has the authority to make a pricing decision. Remember the ultimate goal. Negotiation is not just about saving a few dollars, Hunter said. Instead, it’s about building negotiating skills. “Negotiating in retail settings can be a helpful practice to build your confidence to negotiate more important items such as salary and work projects,” she said. “While negotiating salary and other relationship-based issues at work differs quite a bit from the strategies described here, the first step is having the confidence to ask.” ABOUT EMILY HUNTER, PH.D. Emily Hunter, Ph.D., associate professor of management in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, teaches negotiation and conflict management. Her research on employee work-family issues, workday breaks and deviant behavior has appeared in academic journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management and Journal of Organizational Behavior. She is also the co-author of "Organized Innovation: A Blueprint for Renewing America's Prosperity." ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT BAYLOR’S HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/businessand follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
Baylors Benjamin Franklin Scholars Bring Light to Complex Figure
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was a complex man. Among his many roles, he was a businessman, entrepreneur, inventor, journalist, author, printer, editor, politician, postmaster, statesman, ambassador and signer of the Declaration of Independence. And even with a treasure trove of accomplishments, sometimes the Franklin legends are bigger than Franklin the man – and it’s taken an army of historians and scholars throughout the centuries to sort it out. As July 4 Independence Day approaches, Baylor University's two Franklin scholars share different perspectives of Franklin, his faith and his business acumen: Thomas S. Kidd, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of History and associate director of Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion Blaine McCormick, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the management department in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business Both have penned Franklin books and both have been featured nationally for their research on the Founding Father. Kidd’s 2017 book, “Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father,” has received high marks for its analysis of Franklin’s beliefs. From his Puritan upbringing to deism, skepticism and more, the book explores the influences and evolution of faith throughout Franklin’s life. “In today’s polarized political and religious environment, some pundits seek to remake the Founding Fathers in their own image. Benjamin Franklin’s example reveals that the historical truth is often more complicated,” Kidd wrote in a May 2017 column for The Wall Street Journal. McCormick, who wrote “Ben Franklin: America’s Original Entrepreneur,” discovered a passion to study the Founding Father after listening to an audiobook of Franklin’s autobiography. “Franklin could do things as a statesman, and understand things, and achieve things as a statesman, because he had achieved things in the marketplace first,” he said. “I’ve yet to find a better book for businesspeople to learn about how to run a business in the American Experiment. He wrote the autobiography to help train people in the life of business. Many of the principles are still very robust.” And the way he shared those principles (many of which have been misquoted and made into memes through the decades) is important, McCormick said. “Franklin used sentences no longer than a Tweet to train generations of colonial businesspeople,” he said. “They were short. They were memorable. They were high-impact.” ABOUT THOMAS KIDD, PH.D. Thomas S. Kidd, Ph.D., serves as Distinguished Professor of History and associate director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. His books include “Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Lie of a Founding Father, “American Colonial History: Clashing Cultures and Faiths,” “Baptists in America: A History,” “George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father,” “Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots,” “God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution,” “American Christians and Islam” and “The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America.” He has written for outlets including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. ABOUT BLAINE MCCORMICK, PH.D. Blaine McCormick, Ph.D., serves as chair of the management department in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, is a nationally recognized scholar on the business practices of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison. McCormick is interviewed frequently across all forms of media including Forbes, The New York Times, CNN, public radio, and ABC World News Tonight. He often travels to developing countries to teach business lessons to undereducated entrepreneurs using only a bottle of Coca-Cola as a teaching aid. A native Texan, McCormick grew up working in the cotton fields of West Texas. Before joining the Baylor faculty, he worked in Dallas and Plano for ARCO Oil & Gas Company as a human resource management professional. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.
Managers should consider ethics and performance when rewarding employees, Baylor professor says Do you consider yourself more ethical than your coworker? Caution! Your feelings of ethical superiority can cause a chain reaction that is detrimental to you, your coworker and your organization, according to Baylor University management research. A new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics suggests that your feelings of ethical superiority can lead you to have negative emotions toward a “less ethical” coworker. Those negative emotions can be amplified if you also believe you do not perform as well as that coworker. And, furthermore, those negative emotions can lead to your mistreatment and/or ostracism (social exclusion) of that less ethical, higher-performing coworker. “One way to think of this is that it is – and should be – concerning to us to believe that we are more ethical than our coworkers, especially if we do not perform as well as they do,” said lead author Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business and an expert on workplace ethics and ostracism. The research, Quade said, can help managers create better atmospheres and improve the bottom line. “The managerial implication is that we need to create environments where ethics and performance are both rewarded,” he said. A total of 741 people, among them 310 employees (“focal employees”) and an equal number of their coworkers (“comparison coworkers”), were surveyed for the study. Focal employees compared themselves with their coworkers based on two areas: perceived ethics and performance. Then they rated their levels of negative emotions (i.e., feelings of contempt, tension or disgust) toward those same comparison coworkers. Results show that employees who believe they are more ethical than similar coworkers (i.e., those that hold similar positions, have similar education background and similar tenure in the organization) feel negative emotions (i.e., contempt, disgust, stress, repulsion) when thinking about those coworkers. These negative emotions about the coworker are amplified when the employees also believe they do not perform as well as those same coworkers. In turn, the comparison coworkers rated how often they experienced social undermining (i.e., insults, spreading of rumors, belittling of ideas) and ostracism (i.e., ignored, avoided, shut out of conversations) from the focal employee. Results also show that the negative emotions that the “more ethical, lower performing” employees experience may result in them behaving in unethical ways directed at their coworkers. Specifically, they become more likely to socially undermine and ostracize those “less ethical, higher performing” coworkers. All the study’s results exist regardless of gender and any positive emotion the employees may experience as a result of believing they are more ethical. Ultimately, such workplace scenarios pose a conundrum for managers, Quade said. On one hand, there is the ethical worker who doesn’t perform as well. On the other hand, there’s the less ethical worker who hits all the goals. Who gets rewarded? “If high performance is the result of questionable or unethical behavior, that combination should not be celebrated,” the researchers wrote. “Instead, organizations should be cautious when rewarding and promoting performance within organizations, ensuring that they also consider the way the job is done from an ethical standpoint.” The ideal situation, the study reveals, is when high ethics and high performance are the norm – and employees are rewarded. “Enhancing the ethical behavior of all employees should be an emphasis to attempt to remove some of the disparity that tends to exist between employees when it comes to their moral behavior at work,” the researchers wrote. ABOUT THE STUDY “’If Only My Coworker Was More Ethical’: When Ethical and Performance Comparisons Lead to Negative Emotions, Social Undermining, and Ostracism,” published in the Journal of Business Ethics, is authored by Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University; Rebecca Greenbaum, Ph.D., associate professor of management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University; and Mary Mawritz, Ph.D., associate professor of management, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/businessand follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
‘The surprise, and the up side, is that episodic memories from before the children’s treatment were spared,’ Baylor researcher says Children with certain types of brain tumors who undergo radiation treatment are less likely to recall the specifics of events they experienced after radiation than to remember pre-treatment happenings, according to a Baylor University study comparing them to children with healthy brains. The finding is significant because children after treatment had less volume in the hippocampus — a part of the brain that plays an important role in memory. But while such a decrease usually is associated Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, brain injury, epileptic amnesia, encephalitis and aging, with those conditions both remote and recent memories are impaired, said lead author Melanie Sekeres, Ph.D., director of Sekeres Memory Laboratory at Baylor University. “The surprise, and the up side, is that episodic memories from before the children’s treatment were spared,” Sekeres said. For the study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers focused on “autobiographical memory,” which is linked to unique personal events and involves the recollection of emotional and perceptual details that allow a person to mentally re-experience the event, said Sekeres, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used to treat the most common malignant brain tumor in children — a medulloblastoma. The reduced volume of the hippocampus is likely associated with radiation’s impact on the development of new cells in the nervous system, including the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, or neurogenesis. “We know that these new cells play crucial roles in regulating memory and spatial learning, which is required to navigate. These treatments limit the brain’s ability to produce these new cells, which, in turn, limits the ability to form new memories,” Sekeres said. Research participants were 13 child survivors of brain tumors who had previously received radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment at least one year before the study. Twenty-eight healthy youths of similar ages (ranging from 7 to 18) also were recruited for the study, conducted with The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All the youths completed the Children’s Autobiographical Interview — a standardized memory test — and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. In individual interviews, children in both groups also were asked to recall memories from personal events that occurred at a specific time and place. Children were asked to recall a very old memory from an event before their radiation treatment (or an equally old memory for the healthy children) and a recent memory from within the past month. They were offered a list of events such as a birthday party, family trip, graduation and getting a pet but were told that they could choose another happening. The interview allowed children to freely recall without prompting before being asked general and specific questions about the event. “They have a hard time forming new, detailed memories,” Sekeres said. For example, when talking about a recent birthday party for a friend, they might tell how they met the friend and what that individual likes to do, but few specifics such as what they wore, the type of cake, what friends were there and what activities they did at the party, she said. “Such specific details might seem trivial, but these are precisely the kinds of details that allow us to vividly replay important events in our lives,” Sekeres said. “For most events, though, even healthy people forget a lot of specific details over time because we typically don’t need to retain all that incidental information. Some forgetting is normal and adaptive, and what we remember is the gist of an older event.” The patients were just as capable as healthy children of recalling these older memories, she said. But for children with brain tumors who have undergone radiation, the study suggested “deficits in their ability to either encode and/or retrieve highly detailed memories for personal events,” Sekeres said. “And those are the kind of memories that allow us to understand who we are and give us rich personal lives. “The study identifies an area of cognition that is inadvertently impacted by standard treatment, which has real consequences for the quality of life of the survivors. The physicians’ ultimate goal is to allow their patients to survive and to live as well as possible,” Sekeres said. “Although these treatments are often crucial in the effective management of the cancer, if the physicians and the family know there are these unintended side effects, that may be an additional factor to consider when exploring the treatment options.” ABOUT THE STUDY The study — “Impaired recent, but preserved remote, autobiographical memory in pediatric brain tumor patients” — was conducted with the Brain Tumor Program and the Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Funding was provided through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s oldest and largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments and seven academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit College of Arts & Sciences.
Out of Office: New Baylor Management Study Examines Relationship Between Stress and Remote Work
Researchers say people with high emotional stability and autonomy are best suited for remote-work opportunities Many U.S. employees believe working from home – or at least away from the office – can bring freedom and stress-free job satisfaction. A new Baylor University study says, “Not so fast.” The study, published recently in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, examines the impact of remote work on employee well-being and offers several strategies to help managers provide remote-work opportunities that are valuable to the employee and the company. “Any organization, regardless of the extent to which people work remotely, needs to consider well-being of their employees as they implement more flexible working practices,” the researchers wrote. A total of 403 working adults were surveyed for the two studies that made up the research, said lead author Sara Perry, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. The research team measured each employee’s autonomy (the level of a worker’s independence), strain (defined in this study as exhaustion, disengagement and dissatisfaction) and emotional stability. Emotional stability, Perry explained, “captures how even keeled someone is or, on the opposite end, how malleable their emotions are. An example would be if something stressful happens at work, a person who is high on emotional stability would take it in stride, remain positive and figure out how to address it. A person low on emotional stability might get frustrated and discouraged, expending energy with those emotions instead of on the issue at hand.” The research found that: • Autonomy is critical to protecting remote employees’ well-being and helping them avoid strain. • Employees reporting high levels of autonomy and emotional stability appear to be the most able to thrive in remote-work positions. • Employees reporting high levels of job autonomy with lower levels of emotional stability appear to be more susceptible to strain. Perry said the study contradicts past research that says autonomy is a universal need that everyone possesses. Per this research, those who are lower in emotional stability may not need or want as much autonomy in their work. “This lower need for autonomy may explain why less emotionally stable employees don’t do as well when working remotely, even when they have autonomy,” researchers wrote. In addition to their findings, the researchers offered several recommendations for managers who design or oversee remote-work arrangements. The research team advised managers to consider their employees’ behavior when deciding who will work remotely. “I would suggest managers look at employee behaviors, rather than for personality traits, per se,” Perry said. “For example, if someone does not handle stress well in the office, they are not likely to handle it well at home either. If someone gets overwhelmed easily, or reacts in big ways to requests or issues in the office, they are likely less well positioned to work remotely and handle that responsibility and stress.” Based on this study, individuals with high emotional stability and high levels of autonomy are better suited for remote work, but such candidates might not always be available. “If less emotionally stable individuals must work remotely, managers should take care to provide more resources, other than autonomy, including support to help foster strong relationships with coworkers and avoid strain,” they wrote. Managers might also consider providing proper training and equipment for remote work, including proper separation of work and family spaces, clear procedural and performance expectations and regular contact (virtual or face-to-face) with coworkers and managers. ABOUT THE STUDY “Stress in Remote Work: Two Studies Testing The Demand-Control-Person Model,” published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, is authored by Sara Perry, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Emily Hunter, Ph.D., associate professor of management, Hankamer School of Business, Baylor Univeersity, and Cristina Rubino, professor of management, David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, California State University Northridge. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
Ethical Leadership Can Have Negative Consequences, Baylor University Researchers Say
Coupled with stress, ethical leadership can lead to employee deviance and turnover Ethical leadership is a good thing, right? Certainly, management experts say. But ethical leadership can have negative consequences, too, according to new research from management faculty in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. A 2018 Baylor study published in the Journal of Business Ethics reveals that ethical leadership compounded by job-hindrance stress and supervisor-induced stress can lead to employee deviance and turnover. The research reflects the thoughts of 609 employees who were surveyed across two studies. “If someone is an ethical leader but induces stress, our research shows that his or her employees will feel less support,” said lead author Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management. “Thus, employees who do not feel supported are more likely to consider leaving their jobs or engage in workplace deviance – things like coming in late to work, daydreaming, not following instructions or failing to be as productive as they could be.” Quade said that ethical leadership is a good thing and often beneficial in terms of employee resources. An example would be a trusted supervisor who listens to her employees and has her employees’ best interests in mind. The trouble comes, he said, when supervisor-induced stress or job-hindrance stress enters the picture. “When those stressors are added, there is a depletion of resources,” Quade explained. “Many of the gains or benefits from ethical leadership are negated.” What does stress-inducing ethical leadership look like? Quade said it could be as simple as supervisors setting expectations too high or, in the interest of “following all the rules,” not allowing for any deviation from a process, even if a shortcut, still within the bounds of behaving ethically, would deliver a desired result. The researchers wrote: “Ethical leadership can be an exacting process of sustaining high ethical standards, ensuring careful practice and enforcement of all rules and meeting leaders’ lofty expectations, all of which can consume time and energy and be perceived by employees as overly demanding or an obstacle to job performance.” As part of the study, those surveyed were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statements: My supervisor makes it so that I have to go through a lot of red tape to get my job done. Working with my supervisor makes it hard to understand what is expected of me. I receive conflicting requests from my supervisor. My supervisor creates many hassles to go through to get projects/assignments done. Working with him/her thwarts my personal growth and well-being. In general, I feel that my supervisor hinders my personal accomplishment. I feel that my supervisor constrains my achievement of personal goals and development. Quade said his team in no way wants to discourage ethical leadership. Research consistently shows such leadership is very beneficial, he said. But this new research shows that there are boundaries to those benefits. “This places quite an onus on appropriately managing the stress that comes from the leader and the job, in efforts to most fully realize the potential of ethical leadership,” the researchers wrote. The study listed some tips and takeaways for organizations and leaders. They include: Strike a balance between promoting ethical behavior and providing resources to help employees meet those standards. Encourage employees in word and deed by reducing ambiguity in ethical dilemmas that might otherwise drain resources. Model fair and ethical behavior. Communicate efficient methods to meet standards and reduce unnecessary steps or procedures. Equip and train leaders to balance the demands of leading ethically while not overburdening their employees. ABOUT THE STUDY “Boundary Conditions of Ethical Leadership: Exploring Supervisor-Induced and Job Hindrance Stress as Potential Inhibitors” is published in the Journal of Business Ethics. Study authors are Baylor University Hankamer School of Business faculty members Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management; Sara Perry, Ph.D., assistant professor of management; and Emily Hunter, Ph.D., associate professor of management. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/businessand follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
In recent years, several scholars have recommended that countries reduce their energy-related CO2 emissions by setting carbon intensity targets for their electricity generating plants. Other research suggests that countries could substantially cut their emissions simply by focusing on lowering the carbon emissions of the most extreme polluters. Using a unique international data source on power plants, researchers Don Grant (U. Colorado); Wesley Longhofer, assistant professor of organization and management; and Andrew Jorgenson (U. Utah) inform this issue by analyzing the distribution of CO2 emissions and intensities within the electricity sectors of 20 countries. They find that the dirtiest 5 percent of power plants are responsible for huge shares of their sectors’ total emissions, noting that “if these plants continued generating the same amount of electricity but met particular intensity targets, the world’s total electricity-based CO2 emissions could be reduced by as much as 44 percent.” Source:
Tournament strategies: Collusion or competition?
As many as one-third of US corporations make use of tournament incentive schemes, where compensation is linked to employees’ performance and ranking. But how does the degree of mutual monitoring— the ability of employees to observe each other’s productive activities—affect effort? In a study on mutual monitoring and rank-order tournaments, Lynn Hannan (Tulane); Kristy Towry, Goizueta Term Chair and associate professor of accounting; and Yue (May) Zhang (Northeastern) conduct two experiments to determine whether employees are more likely to collude, resulting in lower effort, or to compete, resulting in higher effort, when they are able to monitor each other during a tournament. They find that mutual monitoring can actually work in either direction, and that it depends on the workplace culture. For example, when management practices are perceived to be unfair, this creates a general inclination for workers to collude against management. In this case, mutual monitoring will amplify the collusion, resulting in lower effort. Likewise, when the workplace culture encourages competition, mutual monitoring contribute to higher effort. Source:
Forecasting sales using financial stock market data
Firms use many kinds of data for forecasting future sales—one of the key activities in the management of a business—and combine various methods in order to utilize different types of information. A recent study by Nikolay Osadchiy, assistant professor of information systems and operations management; Vishal Gaur (Cornell); and Sridhar Seshadri (UT Austin) focuses on financial stock market data in developing a new methodology for firm-level sales forecasting, testing it against standard benchmarks such as forecasts from equity analysts and time-series methods. Applying their method to the forecast of total annual sales for US public retail firms, the researchers find their market-based approach achieves an average 15 percent reduction in forecasting error compared with more typical forecasting methods. Their model, they write, can also be applied to hedging operational risk with financial instruments. Source:
Going about business . . . and helping change
Politically oriented organizations, such as those advocating equal rights for lesbians and gays, have long been credited with effecting changes in public policy that reduce discrimination. But what about the role of “ordinary” commercial organizations, such as dry cleaners or insurance agencies or clothing stores, that are affiliated with a “challenger” group that has limited recognition in a political system? A recent article by Giacomo Negro, associate professor of organization and management; Glenn Carroll (Stanford); and Fabrizio Perretti (Bocconi) examines such organizations, which are often overlooked in the study of policy outcomes. The researchers find that “politically mundane” commercial enterprises linked to lesbians and gays can contribute distinctly to local enactment of nondiscriminatory policies. The researchers attribute this to the bridges created between these businesses and the larger community, and to the normalcy and legitimacy signaled by their familiar organizational forms. They find that the more diverse in nature these commercial organizations are, the greater their potential to bring about nondiscriminatory policies. But this potential is diminished, they note, in communities where political organizations, particularly those engaging in contentious action, have a larger presence. The authors conclude that commercial organizations are an important complement to political action and can helpfully challenge discrimination while enhancing community connections and awareness. Source:
