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The Impact of Formal Communication on Employees’ Responses to New Information Technology

The Impact of Formal Communication on Employees’ Responses to New Information Technology

Primary author: Deborah Compeau

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Changes in information technology (IT) in the workplace are frequent, driven by opportunities to create value from ever-developing technologies. Yet such changes are challenging for employees who must cope with disruptions in their work and continually update their skills. Research in information systems has provided robust insights into how individuals’ feelings and beliefs about themselves, the IT, and their environment influence IT implementation success. The managerial mechanisms that facilitate success, however, remain less studied.

This paper investigates one particular mechanism, formal communication, which has been found to be important in organizational change. Building on an earlier qualitative study, we extend the organizational change literature by examining the specific characteristics of formal communication that influence employees’ responses.

We tested our theoretical model with a survey of 303 individuals who were anticipating IT-based changes at work. The results show the importance of four content categories of communication: information about WHAT the IT is, WHY it is being implemented, WHEN change will occur and HOW the individual’s work will be affected. We show that high quality formal communication positively influences beliefs about the usefulness and ease of use of the new IT. These in turn promote enthusiasm and reduce anxiety and thus motivate engagement in further social interaction to prepare for the new IT. We contribute to the literature by articulating an improved conceptualization of formal communication, and investigating the role of formal communication in cultivating employees’ readiness for IT change.

Mobile Money for the Financially Underserved in the U.S.: How can this Socio-Technical System work?

Mobile Money for the Financially Underserved in the U.S.: How can this Socio-Technical System work?

Primary author: Carlos Torres
Faculty sponsor: Robert Crossler

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

In Forbes Technology Council, Toni Raval highlights that fintech is creating new alternatives addressing the unbanked /underbanked populations in developing economies by providing access to financial services, wherein three years (2014-2017) 515M adults obtained access to financial services unavailable before (Raval, 2019).
While this is happening in the developing world, and technology seems to be improving the lives of many people with no access to financial services, in the US CNN reported several cities and states banning cashless stores in order to prevent discrimination against unbanked people (Meyersohn, 2019). It seems contradictory that fintech can be seen as a mean for inclusion in many societies, but in the U.S., fintech is being used with the purpose of exclusion instead.
This in-progress critical research uses Bourdieu’s theory of practice (Bourdieu, 1977, 1990) to study the M-Money socio-technical system (Baxter & Sommerville, 2011; Bostrom & Heinen, 1977) addressing the financially underserved in the U.S. By using Values Sensitive Design (VSD) methodology considering human values of ethical import (Friedman & Kahn Jr, 2003), we offer initial theoretical insight and preliminary design principles for application providers developing technical solutions with the hope of preventing ongoing discrimination against financially underserved U.S. financially underserved.

Board Demographics, Governance, Independence or Embeddedness: What is more important for reducing Top Management Team’s gender based pay gap in organizations?

Board Demographics, Governance, Independence or Embeddedness: What is more important for reducing Top Management Team’s gender based pay gap in organizations?

Primary author: Gurdeep Singh Raina
Faculty sponsor: Dr. Arvin Sahaym

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

This study advances the research on the relationship between Upper Echelon demographics and the gender based pay gap in the TMT. Specifically, I investigated the relationships between Board demographics, Top Management Team (TMT) demographics and the gender diversity in the Compensation Committees, and gender based pay gap in the TMT. I also assessed the influence of gender diversity in the TMT on these relationships. I used Agency, Social Identity theory, and Demographic similarity to conceptually establish the main relationships as well as the moderated relationships. The study indicated that there seems to be a significant relationship between Board Size, Board Independence, and Independent Director Tenure on the focal board, with all the three variables negatively impacting the gender based pay gap in the TMT at various levels of significance. It also concluded that the gender diversity in the TMT significantly moderates the main relationships. Additionally, the results show that gender and national diversity in the focal board, TMT size, and gender diversity in the Compensation Committee do not impact the gender based TMT pay gap significantly. The moderation is also non-significant in these cases.

Sales-Service Ambidexterity on Salesperson Performance: Do Role Characteristics Play a Role?

Sales-Service Ambidexterity on Salesperson Performance: Do Role Characteristics Play a Role?

Primary author: Muzi Liu
Co-author(s): Muzi Liu; Pavan Munaganti
Faculty sponsor: Dr. Babu John Mariadoss

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Firms are increasingly requiring their frontline employees to play an ambidextrous role, that is, engage in “both sales and service activities regardless of formal title or position” (Rapp et al. 2017, 59). While ambidexterity refers to the simultaneous pursuit of dual, and often conflicting strategic goals (Simsek 2009), service researchers have focused on service-sales ambidexterity by examining service personnel who perform sales activities (e.g., Gwinner et al. 2005; Jasmand, Blazevic, & de Ruyter 2012), and sales researchers have focused on sales-service ambidexterity by examining service performance within the salesforce (e.g., Ahearne, Jelinek, & Jones 2007). Recent research (e.g., Rapp et al. 2017) suggests that the capacity of employees to function ambidextrously depends on whether their dual sales and service roles are perceived as a stressor, and whether firms can create conditions facilitating role integration and reconciling competing individual-level role demands, leading to successful alignment between customer service and sales. Extant literature (e.g., Singh 1998; Johnson, Anderson, & Fornell 1995) suggests that the blurring of roles between sales and service personnel can have implications on employee role characteristics such as role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload, and ultimately affect performance. The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of ambidexterity on performance, through the mediating effect of salesperson role characteristics. In two studies, we find that sales-service ambidexterity leads to increased perceived role conflict, ambiguity, and overload amongst frontline employees, and ultimately in diminished frontline employee performance.

Pricing Strategies in the Presence of Interventions

Pricing Strategies in the Presence of Interventions

Primary author: Sadegh Kazemi
Faculty sponsor: Stergios B. Fotopoulos

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Motivated by real-life pricing practices, we consider a pricing problem under uncertain conditions where the customer’s willingness-to-pay (WtP) changes at an unknown point over the selling horizon. An important feature of our model is that the seller only observes the sales outcomes and has limited knowledge of the underlying WtP distribution before and after the intervention. Given the uncertainty associated with the seller’s estimate of the time of change, we obtain the probability distribution of the seller’s maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of the intervention time. Furthermore, we characterize the seller’s expected revenue loss due to the under- or overestimation of the intervention time and propose an easily implementable procedure to approximate the seller’s revenue under-performance. Our study reveals two important findings. First, the seller tends to underestimate the intervention time in the face of negative events that lower the customer’s reservation price. Conversely, the seller is prone to overestimation when the intervention inflates the customer’s reservation price. Second, we show that the seller’s revenue under-performance is minimal both when the shift in WtP distribution parameter(s) is either very small or considerably large. While our analytical results significantly contribute to the revenue management literature on their own, we also provide an accurate numerical method to easily obtain and interpret the results in a meaningful way for managerial use.

When is a threat more or less of a threat? The sensitivity of highly central identities to threat and the increased likelihood of feeling offended, identity protection, withdrawal, and antisocial behaviors

When is a threat more or less of a threat? The sensitivity of highly central identities to threat and the increased likelihood of feeling offended, identity protection, withdrawal, and antisocial behaviors

Primary author: Hana Johnson
Co-author(s): JT Bates

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

High identity centrality refers to identities (i.e., self-definitions) that are so important to individuals that they are top-of-mind for them across situations. These identities are highly salient and may therefore easily transition from being top-of-mind to actually affecting behavior; this can occur when identities are under threat. In the workplace, identity threat may result directly from insulting comments or criticisms but may also arise more inadvertently through work practices or changes in management. If these types of experiences involve a highly central identity, we argue that employees are more likely to perceive a threat. We then further explore how employees respond to threat to highly central identities by identifying the different emotional and behavioral responses individuals engage when the target of the threat is a more versus less central identity.

We test the sensitivity of highly central identities to threat in an experimental pilot study and then explore responses to threat related to highly central identities in a qualitative study. Using a grounded theory approach, we find that individuals are more likely to feel offended and engage in behaviors to protect their identities when threat is related to highly central identities. This protection of identities requires sustained effort to minimize the identity threat. In addition, when individuals experience threat to highly central identities, they are more likely to withdraw from situations and behave in an antisocial manner such as engaging in angry and aggressive behavior. Our work has implications for theory on identity, identity threat, and negative emotions.

A Model for Describing and Diagnosing Human Miscommunications

A Model for Describing and Diagnosing Human Miscommunications

Primary author: Lynne Cooper

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Miscommunication in team settings can lead to conflict and negatively impact team performance. Rapidly recognizing that a miscommunication has occurred and diagnosing the cause enables team members to fix the communication errors before they grow into conflicts. Existing models of human communication, however, are built on models developed during the early decades of computer use. The sequence “Message–>Encode–>Transmit–>Receive–>Decode–>Message” focuses on the transmission and receipt of messages consisting of well-structured, unambiguous data and information but fails to capture the richness, ambiguity, and contextualization inherent in person-to-person communication.

Communication starts with intent – the meaning (X0) the sender wishes to communicate and the intended impact of that communication. Analogous to the sequence above, meaning (X0) is articulated into a message (X1) by the sender, which is received (Y1) and interpreted by the recipient to extract meaning (Y0). Perfect communication occurs when X0 = Y0. Errors can occur anywhere along the path, for example, when a person misspeaks (X0-X1), Autocorrect changes a text (X1-Y1), or the receiver doesn’t recognize sarcasm (Y1-Y0).

The path from X0 = Y0, however, is affected multiple factors: the channel chosen to communicate, the physiological and emotional state of the sender and receiver, cultural and social factors, and the common ground of knowledge and experience they share. These factors serve to amplify, dampen, filter, or add noise, i.e., introduce errors, into the communication process.

This research developed an enriched, but still parsimonious, model that integrates these key factors into a practical model for describing and diagnosing interpersonal (mis)communications.

Asset Pricing Around Anticipated Announcements: A Swing of Two Days

Asset Pricing Around Anticipated Announcements: A Swing of Two Days

Primary author: Jingjing Chen
Faculty sponsor: George Jiang

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

The literature documents that on days with pre-scheduled macroeconomic news announcement, the market earns significantly higher returns. Consistently, the literature documents a significantly positive implied market premium on these days, i.e., the market significantly prices beta across stocks. In this study, I show that over the two-day announcement window [-1, 0], the average market excess return is no longer significantly higher and the implied market premium is no longer significant. Both sets of results suggest that on days prior to the announcement, stocks earn relatively lower returns. I interpret this episode as evidence that investors price assets at a discount prior to anticipated announcements due to information uncertainty, but price assets with a premium post-announcement as a result of uncertainty resolution. I show both cross-sectional and time-series evidence to corroborate our argument. Specifically, I show that the discount is more pronounced for stocks with high information uncertainty and high illiquidity, and the premium is accrued more quickly for stocks with low information uncertainty and low illiquidity. Over time, the discount and premium associated with pre-scheduled macroeconomic news announcement are higher when market uncertainty is high and investor sentiment is low.

The influence of campaign contribution disclosure on voter support for tax initiatives: Evidence from Washington’s ‘Keep Groceries Affordable Act of 2018’

The influence of campaign contribution disclosure on voter support for tax initiatives: Evidence from Washington’s ‘Keep Groceries Affordable Act of 2018’

Primary author: Beau Barnes
Co-author(s): Jeffrey Gramlich; Jonathan Lee

Primary college/unit: Carson College of Business
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Ballot initiatives are a common form of direct democracy that allows citizens to bypass lawmakers and—if enough signatures can be collected in support of an initiative—bring about a public vote on legislation. Theoretically, ballot initiatives promote self-governance; however, using sophisticated and sometimes deceptive public persuasion techniques, well-funded special interest groups often spearhead ballot-initiative-related campaigns to support their own agendas. Although disclosure regulations often require campaigns to reveal the source of major contributions, the robustness of such disclosures varies by state. Further, the degree to which voters view campaign contributions as important when deciding to support/oppose ballot initiatives has received little attention from academic researchers, leading critics to question the benefits of disclosure regulation in general. Thus, we evaluate the influence of campaign contribution disclosures on support for a tax-oriented ballot initiative. Specifically, we examine whether voters decrease their support for Washington State Initiative 1634—an initiative banning new or increased taxes on groceries—after being presented a table that discloses the major contributors behind the campaigns for and against the initiative. Using a sample of 147 potential Washington voters on the week before the 2018 general election, we find that people tend to decrease support for Initiative 1634 after they are shown a table of campaign donors and their contributions. Thus, this study provides evidence that campaign contribution disclosures can be an important factor when deciding to vote “yes” or “no” on a ballot initiative. Policy makers can reference these findings when assessing costs and benefits of new and existing disclosure regulation.