Reference-dependent preferences in the public and private sectors: A nonlinear perspective

Although existing studies in the strategic management literature examine the importance of reference points in the context of managerial decisions vis-à-vis organizational performance, there is surprisingly little evidence on how reference earnings affect employees' wellbeing and behavior. The present study closes this gap by investigating adaptation dynamics towards reference earnings in the context of employees’ behavioral responses to social comparisons. We argue that a wedge between actual and aspiration-level earnings causes discontent that spurs employees into action to materialize their aspirations. The robustness of such action depends on the size of the wedge in a nonlinear fashion, a hypothesis supported by our findings. Nevertheless, heterogeneity in behavioral responses is evident across the public and private sectors and across gender and educational attainment. Such heterogeneity could be partially attributed to differences in public service motivation among public and private sector employees, to the different weights that employees place on pecuniary vs. non-pecuniary rewards, and whether reference earnings are likely to trigger behavioral responses through a 'jealousy' or through an 'ambition' channel. These findings have implications for the design of strategic human resource management policies to establish reward structures encouraging employees to adopt risk attitudes that are consistent with an overall business strategic plan

Measuring subjective wellbeing: recommendations on measures for use by national governments

Governments around the world are now beginning to seriously consider the use of measures of subjective wellbeing (SWB) – ratings of thoughts and feelings about life – for monitoring progress and for informing and appraising public policy. The mental state account of wellbeing upon which SWB measures are based can provide useful additional information about who is doing well and badly in life when compared to that provided by the objective list and preference satisfaction accounts. It may be particularly useful when deciding how best to allocate scarce resources, where it is desirable to express the benefits of intervention in a single metric that can be compared to the costs of intervention. There are three main concepts of SWB in the literature – evaluation (life satisfaction), experience (momentary mood) and eudemonia (purpose) – and policy-makers should seek to measure all three, at least for the purposes of monitoring progress. There are some major challenges to the use of SWB measures. Two related and well-rehearsed issues are the effects of expectations and adaptation on ratings. The degree to which we should allow wellbeing to vary according to expectations and adaptation are vexing moral problems but information on SWB can highlight what difference allowing for these considerations would have in practice (e.g. in informing prioiritisation decisions), which can then be fed into the normative debate. There are also questions about precisely what attention should be drawn to in SWB questions and how to capture the ratings of those least inclined to take part in surveys, but these can be addressed through more widespread use of SWB. We also provide some concrete recommendations about precisely what questions should be asked in large-scale surveys, and these recommendations have been taken up by the Office of National Statistics in the UK and are being looked at closely by the OECD

(Re) defining salesperson motivation: current status, main challenges, and research directions

The construct of motivation is one of the central themes in selling and sales management research. Yet, to-date no review article exists that surveys the construct (both from an extrinsic and intrinsic motivation context), critically evaluates its current status, examines various key challenges apparent from the extant research, and suggests new research opportunities based on a thorough review of past work. The authors explore how motivation is defined, major theories underpinning motivation, how motivation has historically been measured, and key methodologies used over time. In addition, attention is given to principal drivers and outcomes of salesperson motivation. A summarizing appendix of key articles in salesperson motivation is provided