Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Business
Program Name/Specialization
Accounting
Faculty/School
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics
First Advisor
Dr. Leslie Berger
Advisor Role
Dissertation Advisor
Second Advisor
Dr. Lan Guo
Advisor Role
Dissertation Advisor
Abstract
The purpose of my dissertation is to investigate how employees react to their supervisors’ decisions not to use ex-post discretionary adjustments to mitigate the effects that negative unexpected events have on their bonuses. To address this objective, I pose the following research question: Will the level of interdependence inherent within the compensation of multiple employees (i.e., compensation interdependence) and the likelihood the event will reoccur (i.e., future event likelihood) affect employees’ reactions (future effort and workplace deviance) when they don’t receive ex-post discretionary adjustments to mitigate the effects of negative events?
I address my research question using an experiment where I vary the level of compensation interdependence (absent vs. present) and future event likelihood (low vs. high) while observing how employees react to not receiving an ex-post discretionary adjustment. I find that employees decrease their future effort and increase their workplace deviance behavior more when compensation interdependence is absent than when it is present but only when future event likelihood is low and not when it is high. I also find that employees’ distributive justice evaluations are lower and adjustment expectations are higher when compensation interdependence is absent than when it is present but once again only when future event likelihood is low and not when it is high.
My dissertation contributes to existing literature. First, while existing research examines how supervisors make ex-post discretionary adjustment decisions based on external factors and management control features, my study examine employees’ reactions to these decisions. Second, my dissertation contributes to existing research that examines how supervisors’ use of ex-post discretionary adjustments affect employees’ justice evaluations and future effort. I find that employees evaluate multiple factors simultaneously when reacting to these decisions.
Recommended Citation
Andrejkow, Joanna, "Employees’ Reactions to Their Supervisors’ (Lack of) Discretionary Adjustments in Performance Evaluations" (2023). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2529.
https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2529
Convocation Year
2023
Convocation Season
Spring