Uncertainty resolution in tax experiments: Why waiting for an audit increases compliance

Tax compliance in a between-subjects experiment was higher when the uncertainty about the occurrence of an audit was not resolved until three weeks after participants had filed their tax returns than in a control treatment with immediate uncertainty resolution. Results have important implications for experimental tax research where providing immediate feedback whether participants are audited is common practice.     

Do leaders reap what they sow? Leader and employee outcomes of leader organizational cynicism about change

Despite increased attention given to the attitude of organizational cynicism, few studies have examined the impact of leader cynicism in organizations. The present study sought to investigate relationships between leader cynicism about organizational change (CAOC) and outcomes relevant to both the leader (performance and organizational citizenship behavior ratings) and his/her employees (employee organizational commitment and CAOC). Using data from 106 manufacturing managers, leader CAOC was found to negatively influence both leader and employee outcomes. Of particular importance, transformational leader behavior was found to fully mediate these relationships and thus served as an important explanatory mechanism. A discussion concerning the potential consequences of these findings for organizations is provided.     

A social capital approach to improving public relations’ efficacy: Diagnosing internal constraints on external communication

This article extends Heath's (2006) concept of fully functioning society theory (FFS) and argues that public relations can be used as a force to enhance collective social capital in communities. To serve this purpose, however, the effectiveness of an organization to serve its external publics is often dependent on the status and relationships the public relations function has developed within the organization. This paper provides a network analysis of a government agency in Jordan that illustrates the relationship between internal organizational social capital and the potential problems for establishing external relationships with publics. Implications for public relations research methods and theory are also discussed.     

Activist e-mail action alerts and identification: Rhetorical relationship building strategies in collective action

This study analyzed 111 e-mail action alerts from three activist groups on opposing ends of the political and religious ideological continuum for examples of Burke's three identification strategies. Findings show the organizations employed identification by antithesis with the greatest frequency, indicating that activist groups most often take a reactionary or confrontational approach to establishing identification with publics.     

Risk-defusing in decisions by probability of detection of harm and promotion and prevention focus

Risk-defusing operators (RDO) are actions that reduce risk, to be enacted either before a negative event occurs (pre-event RDOs) or afterwards (post-event RDOs). For post-event RDOs, detection probability of the negative events is relevant. Regulatory focus theory suggests that promotion-oriented individuals – independent whether it is a personal disposition or favored by situational cues – should focus on chances to succeed and therefore choose post-event RDOs more likely than prevention-oriented individuals who are likely to focus on possible failures and means to avoid them. In two experimental studies, we examined effects of detection probability and regulatory focus as a state variable on the choice of post-event RDOs. Results replicate findings that the likelihood to choose post-event RDOs increases with increasing detection probability of the negative events. Contrary to expectation, no clear effects of regulatory focus were found. Exploratory analyses showed some evidence that successful manipulation of regulatory focus might influence RDO choices if tasks are highly relevant for decision-makers.     

Kundenorientierung: Eine Managementaufgabe mit psychologischem Feingefühl

From a psychological point of view the concept of customer orientation is discussed and its importance for business reengeneering is demonstrated. The transformation of this concept into concrete strategical steps is given. Thus, this concept is much more complex than typically applied. Frequently isolated measures are dysfunctional and expensive. Finally, this concept demands a cooperation with the customer as a complex psychic system.     

Demontage oder Revitalisierung?

The controversial assessments of the German employment model in the literature are generally based on analyses focused on individual pillars of the model, such as the production system, or the welfare state. The present paper suggests an alternative view which takes into account the interactions between various elements of the employment model. We argue that, by the implementation of what we call a German variety of lean production, the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry has been boosted over the last few years. However, in contrast to earlier decades, the success of the export machine does not entail a more general employment dynamic. That is, the cranks between manufacturing and the rest of the employment system has been damaged substantially. Most importantly, the state has reduced its anchor role for the whole of the employment model and the potentials for its revitalisation.     

Twenty-five years of the Journal of Economic Psychology (1981–2005): A report on the development of an interdisciplinary field of research

Economic Psychology has gained considerable momentum through the introduction of the Journal of Economic Psychology (JoEP) in 1981. Twenty-five years later, economic psychology has a clear profile as an interdisciplinary field of research. A content analysis of articles published in the JoEP together with a bibliometric analysis of references and citing journals identified the topics, the sources and the impact of JoEP. Results indicate the high degree of interdisciplinarity reached in the field, taking its ideas from social psychology, economics and consumer research, and its recognition in business and psychology. Implications for journal policy are discussed.