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When Workplace Relationships Are Good, Both Positive and Negative Humor by Leaders Can Improve Employees’ Job Satisfaction

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2016Economy, Jobs, Small Businesschristopher robert, employee, humor, job satisfaction, workplace relationships

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Past research as well as conventional wisdom about the use of humor by leaders suggests that positive humor should result in happier subordinates who are satisfied with their jobs. Conventional wisdom also suggests that leaders should avoid negative humor, though actual support for that belief is scarce and ambiguous. Now, a recent study from the University of Missouri has found that the relationship between leader-humor and job satisfaction is dependent on the quality of the relationship between leaders and their subordinates not the positive or negative tone of the leader’s humor. (more…)

Spear Phishing: Researchers Work to Counter Email Attacks that Gain Recipients’ Trust

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2013Technologyandrew howard, attachment, corporate networks, counter, dynamic framework, e newsletter, email attacks, email system, employee, generic emails, georgia tech, gtri, knowledge, malicious attachments, malicious software analysis, malware, marketing plan, open this attachment, organization, password, personal information, phalanx, research institute, sec, spear phishing, titan, user, verify your password, website

The email resembled the organization’s own employee e-newsletter and asked recipients to visit a website to confirm that they wanted to continue receiving the newsletter. Another email carried an attachment that said it contained the marketing plan the recipient had requested at a recent conference. A third email bearing a colleague’s name suggested a useful website to visit.

None of these emails were what they pretended to be. The first directed victims to a website that asked for personal information, including the user’s password. The second included a virus that launched when the “marketing plan” was opened. The third directed users to a website that attempted to install a malicious program. (more…)

Frontline Employees Can Make or Break Retail and Service Companies

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2012EconomyAmazon, analyst, best buy, chris derose, commercial workforce, company leader, down, employee, Google, hewlett packard, j c penney, management structure, michigan, noel tichy, retailers, ritz carlton, service companies, shopping cart, top, university, US, zappos

ANN ARBOR — Retailers and service companies still utilizing a top-down management structure likely don’t see the connection between the frontline and the bottom line until it’s too late, according to University of Michigan professor Noel Tichy.

In the U.S. alone, retail and service workers are estimated to total more than 15 million people, or nearly one-fifth of the U.S. commercial workforce. Despite the common corporate tag line about “people are our most important asset,” we don’t see many company leaders tap into more than a tiny percentage of the knowledge, creativity and judgment of their largest group of employees. (more…)

Facebook Profile Pictures Influence Perceived Attractiveness, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2012Culture, Technologyemployee, employer, Facebook, facebook user, kevin wise, positive comment, profile photo, profile picture, self presentation, seoyeon hong, university of missouri

Pictures with positive social cues help attract potential employers, friends

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Around the world, more than 850 million people use Facebook regularly to communicate. More and more employers also are using Facebook as a way to examine potential employees before making hires. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that comments left by users on Facebook profile pictures strongly affect the level of perceived attractiveness of the profile owner physically, socially, and professionally.

Facebook profile photos are the first photos visible on a user’s profile. Other Facebook users are able to post comments about each profile photo, which are visible to anyone who views the photo. MU researchers found that Facebook users whose profile photos include social cues, additional information about the user, and many positive comments on their profile photos are viewed much more socially and physically attractive than users who have fewer social cues and negative comments on their profile photos. Seoyeon Hong, a doctoral student, conducted the research along with Kevin Wise, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and other doctoral students. (more…)

Carrots, Not Sticks, Motivate Workers

By Guest PostJune 23, 2012Economyaccounting review, carrot, demotion, disciplinary action, employee, karen sedatole, kristy towry, margaret christ, michigan state university, motivate, penalty, penalty system, productivity, punishment, sticks and carrots, threat

EAST LANSING, Mich. — What motivates people to work harder: The promise of reward or the threat of penalty?

A new study co-authored by a Michigan State University business scholar says it’s the carrot – and not the stick – that drives productivity.

The study, which appears in The Accounting Review, challenges previous research that says the threat of penalty is more effective for getting increased effort, said Karen Sedatole, associate professor of accounting in MSU’s Broad College of Business. (more…)

Customer Spotlight: Windows 7 Platform to Push the Boundaries of Innovation for 3M

By Guest PostNovember 1, 20101 commentTechnology3m, employee, it resources, john turner, Microsoft, pc startup, windows 7

*Windows 7 streamlines PC management and boosts employee productivity, driving 3M’s decision to implement a companywide upgrade.*

Image credit: Microsoft

REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 1, 2010 —

Microsoft Corp. today reported that 3M has deployed Windows 7 to nearly 7,000 of its 75,000 employees and plans a complete rollout over the next three years to help employees be more productive and IT resources be more efficient.

As a leading innovative company that produces products across diverse markets, 3M needed an operating system that allowed its employees to be productive, while at the same time tightening network security and reducing costs of PC management. Since deployment, 3M management has reported a sizeable decrease in computer startup time, greater ease in navigating on the company’s computers at work, advanced data protection and a lower cost of compliance. In addition, the new operating system deployment has enabled a shift in how 3M employees view the company’s IT efforts. (more…)

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