Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) explains that for at least the last decade, it’s been hard to pick up a business book, article, or corporate annual report without seeing statements that stress the importance of human capital— people.
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Measuring and Maximizing the Business Impact of Executive Coaching
This article by Alec R. Levenson (CEO) addresses the conceptual and methodological issues involved in measuring the business impact of executive coaching.
Crafting a Path Toward Mastery: Turning a Personal Leadership Development Plan into Something
Morgan W. McCall, Jr. (USC) attempts to describe an alternative approach to creating a personal plan for developing leadership ability.
Developing the Expert Leader
In this article, Morgan W. McCall, Jr. (USC) and George P. Hollenbeck (Hollenbeck and Associates) look at leadership through the lens of expertise and relate the findings of a wide range of research on experts, expertise, and expert performance to how we think about leaders and leadership development.
Are All Nonfinancial Performance Measures Created Equal? Evidence on Customer Satisfaction and Employee Satisfaction Measures from the Homebuilding Industry
Clara Xiaoling Chen (University of Illinois), Melissa Martin (USC), and Kenneth A. Merchant’s (USC) findings suggest that the validity of a business model depends not only on the soundness of the conceptual model per se, but also on how the variables in the business model are measured.
Designing Organizations for Growth: The Human Resource Contribution
Susan A. Mohrman (CEO) states that HR is staring at an incredible opportunity to increase its impact on organizational performance and become a true strategic partner by contributing to the organization and work design challenges that enable growth.
Performance Measure Properties and Incentive System Design
Michael Gibbs (University of Chicago), Kenneth A. Merchant (USC), Wim A. Van Der Stede (London School of Economics), and Mark E. Vargas (University of Texas) analyze effects of performance measure properties (controllable and uncontrollable risk, distortion, and manipulation) on incentive plan design, using data from auto dealership manager incentive systems
Why HR Practices are not Evidence-Based
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) states that in short, most organizations do not practice evidence-based human resource management. As a result, they often under-perform with respect to their key stakeholders: employees, investors and the community.
National Differences in Performance-Dependent Compensation Practices: The United States vs. The Netherlands
This paper by E. Pieter Jansen (University of Groningen), Kenneth A. Merchant (USC), and Wim A. Van Der Stede (London School of Economics) describes the findings of a study aimed at providing an international replication of a U.S.-based study by Gibbs et al. (2004, 2006) focused on the performance-dependent compensation practices of firms in the automobile retailing industry.
Volunteerism: Leaders’ Attitudes, Thoughts and Behaviors
Theresa M. Welbourne (CEO) describes that the focus of the current Leadership Pulse was volunteerism at work.
The People Paradox: A Study of Future Growth Opportunities
Theresa W. Welbourne (CEO) shares that growth and success increase energy, and even if the growth is small or even if the efforts to grow your organization are less than you would like to see, at least some movement will energize your leaders and employees.
Is Expatriation Good for My Career? The Impact of Expatriate Assignments on Perceived and Actual Career Outcomes
This study by George S. Benson (University of Texas) and Marshall Pattie (Towson University) examines the impact of expatriate assignments on career growth and the external marketability of U.S. employees of a large professional services firm.