Research and Insights Archive

Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations

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.

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Adoption of Employee Involvement Practices: Organizational Change Issues and Insights

Employee involvement (EI) as part of a set of high performance work system (HPWS) has successfully transformed a large number of organizations and become standard practice many new organizations today. George S. Benson (University of Texas at Arlington), Michael Kimmel (University of Texas at Arlington), and Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) review the recent research on EI and HPWS and suggest ways in which change research and theory can inform our understanding of why EI practices have fallen short of their potential.

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Negative Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation: More Smoke Than Fire

Gerald E. Ledford, Jr. (CEO), Meiyu Fang (National Central University, Taiwan), and Barry Gerhart (University of Wisconsin) demonstrate that motivation research makes a basic distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In general, researchers define intrinsic motivation as that which arises from performing the task.

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Stubborn Traditionalism in HRM: Causes and Consequences

This article by John W. Boudreau (CEO) and Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) examines two questions using cross-sectional analysis of our most recent survey of HR leaders. First we find that slow progress matters, because progress on HR functional features is related to important outcomes, including HR’s role in strategy, effectiveness as a function, and organizational performance. Second, we explore one explanation for HR’s stubborn traditionalism, in the organization’s management approach.

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Workforce Planning Across the Great Divide

John W. Boudreau (CEO) and Ian Ziskin (CEO) argue that even today’s most sophisticated SWP systems often focus solely on the workforce, using frameworks and tools that are largely in the domain of human resources management, and often provide the majority of their information about the HR function and its processes and activities.

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Sustainability: What Should Boards Do?

Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) and Susan A. Mohrman (CEO) explain that today, sustainability is not just a matter of good citizenship; it has become critical to the survival of corporations. Corporations need to operate in a sustainable manner in order to assure that they have strong communities and ecologies in which to operate.

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Effectiveness of Management Approaches

Ed Lawler and John Boudreau discuss the effectiveness of five different approaches to management: bureaucratic, low-cost operator, high involvement, global competitor and sustainable.

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The Strategic Role of HR in the U.S. and China

John W. Boudreau (CEO) and Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) explain that it appears that one reason for the differences in the strategic role of HR between the two countries is the extent to which organizations adopt management approaches that are positively associated with the opportunity for HR to engage in strategic activities.

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Executive Pay: Audit Needed?

Bruce R. Ellig (Author) and Ed Lawler (CEO) discuss that like many before it, this year has seen a high level of outrage over the executive compensation payouts of some large corporations.

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Performance Management and Reward Systems

Edward E. Lawler III (CEO), George S. Benson (University of Texas), and Michael McDermott (McDermott Sitzman & Associates, PC) Results from our survey provide clear guidance with respect to linking performance appraisals results to changes in pay. They strongly support the view that performance appraisals systems are more effective when there is a connection between the results of a performance appraisal and the compensation of individuals.

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What Makes Performance Appraisals Effective?

Edward E. Lawler III (CEO), George S. Benson (University of Texas), and Michael McDermott (McDermott Sitzman & Associates, PC) Performance appraisals are often criticized and poorly done. However, they are not going away and should not go away. They are needed in order to effectively manage an organization’s talent. Our research suggests that performance management systems can be effective if they are designed and executed correctly.

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Performance Where It Matters

This article by Tom Williams (Booz & Company) and Christopher G. Worley (CEO) focuses on two related management concerns: (1) is consistent/sustained high performance possible and (2) what might account for it?

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