Mecham, Nathan W.
(2023)
Social Comparison and Impression Management:
The Joint Effect of RPI and Supervisor Presence
On Employee Performance.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
My dissertation consists of three chapters. In Chapter 1.0, I first establish the structure of my dissertation. I then provide a brief introduction to the relative performance information literature (RPI) and its importance to both practice and research. I specifically describe how my dissertation answers a call for research regarding the effect of providing employees with RPI in the presence of a supervisor.
In Chapter 2.0, I provide a focused review of the academic literature regarding RPI. I first describe what RPI is and then describe the predictions that the traditional economic literature and behavioral literature would make regarding how providing RPI to employees should affect employee performance. I then describe previous studies that have analyzed RPI’s effect on employee performance under both tournament and non-tournament contracts and other moderating variables. Many of these studies analyze settings where either a supervisor is not present or the role of a supervisor is deemphasized. I identify this as an important research area and outline how my dissertation contributes to the RPI literature.
In Chapter 3.0, I provide evidence that the traditional positive effect on employee performance of providing employees with RPI is decreased when a supervisor is present. Using an experiment, I manipulate whether employees receive RPI and whether a supervisor is present in the experimental setting. I first replicate previous research by providing evidence of a positive effect of RPI on employee performance when no supervisor is present. Second, I provide evidence that when employees do not receive RPI, the presence of a supervisor increases employee performance. Third, I fail to find an effect of RPI on employee performance when a supervisor is present. Thus, I provide evidence that providing RPI to employees may not effectively motivate employees to increase their performance when the presence of a supervisor is salient.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
29 June 2023 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
25 April 2023 |
| Approval Date: |
29 June 2023 |
| Submission Date: |
13 June 2023 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
67 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business > Business Administration |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Relative Performance Information, Social Comparison, Impression Management |
| Date Deposited: |
29 Jun 2023 15:51 |
| Last Modified: |
29 Jun 2023 15:51 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/44111 |
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