Varkey Titus Jr. (University of Nebraska) and Theresa M. Welbourne (CEO) utilize a sample of firms that are at a critical moment of growth: after going public. Analysis of 1,437 firm-year observations comprised of 330 initial public offerings (IPO) tracked over the course of five years indicates that the relationship between HR slack and profitability is curvilinear (inverted-U shape).
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Employee Resource Groups: An Introduction, Review and Research Agenda
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are within-organization groups, staffed by employee volunteers, which have evolved since their inception in the 1960s. In this paper, Theresa M. Welbourne (CEO), Skylar Rolf (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), and Steven Schlachter (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) provide an introduction to ERGs, review the literature that exists to date, and provide ideas for a research agenda.
Building Human Capital Advantage in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs): The Effect on Long-Term Firm Survival and Performance
Using survey data collected from the firms’ leadership teams in the beginning of the year following their IPO, Theresa M. Welbourne (CEO) and Kyle Gibson (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) test the effects of their approaches to human capital on long-term (10-year) firm survival and performance.
Data-Driven Storytelling, 5/7/15
Theresa Welbourne discusses how Data-Driven Storytellers help leaders use HR data to have highly interactive dialogues that lead to decisive action that fuels high-impact and measurable business results.
Engagement Intent: Connecting or Disconnecting Employees?
This research group for leaders focused on improving employee engagement is a follow up to the Incentive Research Foundation technical report titled: Engaged in what? Creating connections to performance with rewards, recognition and roles.
The Business Impact of ERGs: Learnings from the 2014 ERG Leadership Summit, December 9, 2014, Recording/Slides
In this webinar, Dr. Welbourne reviewed learning from the 2014 ERG Leadership Survey. With responses from ERG members in 21 companies, we created a new ERG Impact Model and explored ways in which ERGs both directly and indirectly impact business outcomes.
Data-Driven Storytelling, 4/22/14, recording/slides
Theresa Welbourne (Research Professor, CEO), and special guest, Katie Metcalf (HR Data Analyst Manager, Microsoft)
Data-Driven Storytellers help leaders use HR data to have highly interactive dialogues that lead to decisive action that fuels high-impact and measurable business results.
Employee Resource Groups, 3/4/14, recording
Join Theresa Welbourne as she takes a deeper dive into last year’s Employee Resource Group research, which uncovered ERG’s as sources of innovation. During the webinar she will discuss how ERG’s are driving and aligning with the business.
Employee Resource Groups, 3/4/14, recording
Join Theresa Welbourne as she takes a deeper dive into last year’s Employee Resource Group research, which uncovered ERG’s as sources of innovation. During the webinar she will discuss how ERG’s are driving and aligning with the business.
Growth, Innovation and High Performance
Started in 2003 by Theresa M. Welbourne, with participation from over 9,200 different individuals, the Leadership Pulse™ is conducted in partnership with Mercer and the Center for Effective Organizations (CEO) at the University of Southern California.The research shows that optimal employee energy increases financial performance while too much energy can significantly decrease productivity.
Data-Driven Storytelling, 5/13/13
Data-Driven Storytellers help leaders use HR data to have highly interactive dialogues that lead to decisive action that fuels high-impact and measurable business results.
Making the Business Case for Employee Resource Groups
There has been an evolution and growth of employee resource groups (ERGs) over the last 30 years. In this article, Theresa M. Welbourne (CEO) and Lacey Leone McLaughlin (CEO) supplement the work on ERGs through several different data-gathering approaches.