Deciding to leave a job and actually leaving it are not the same thing. Whether the intention to quit translates into real turnover behavior—known as the turnover intention–behavior link—is strongly affected by cultural values, find HKUST researcher Kin Fai Ellick Wong and a colleague. Their research answers a question that has long plagued organizations: if ... Read More

Good learners are those who can adjust their behaviors according to environmental feedback. This adjustment, which is called adaptive learning, is the essential component in human and machine learning. In this presentation, Prof Ellick Wongwill discuss how adaptive learning will lead to sub-optimal decisions, and how this bias can be avoided ... Read More

The behavioural approach to organization and decision making argues that negative feedback regarding a choice deters someone from doing the same thing again. That is, decisions should be guided by the law-of-effect—a concept central to adaptive learning. On the other hand, escalation research shows that decision makers often continue or reinforce their ... Read More

Assume you are the head of R&D at a high-tech firm that develops new accessories for cell phones. One year ago, $200 million was budgeted to develop a new cell phone battery instead of developing a new cell phone screen. To date, $100 million has been spent, and the project is 75% complete. Then the company hears that a competitor has just marketed a cell ... Read More

Work is an economic activity but also a social one, and the nature of that social side can have implications for an organisation ranging from an employee’s sense of obligation to the firm to even their task performance. Research by Riki Takeuchi, Seokhwa Yun and Kin Fai Ellick Wong shows how this happens by focusing on a specific aspect of the social nature ... Read More

Conventional thinking in business schools and the business world is that managers who have a tendency to be over-committed to projects – to the point they are unwilling or unable to end a loss-making proposition – are bad for firms. But one study suggests there is an upside to that tendency: when such managers are put in charge, it signals to employees ... Read More

Does an employer "owe" its staff for their efforts, or is the relationship one of a shared give and take? The way that question is answered can affect an employee's performance, and it's not only their own answer that matters. If their coworkers fall in the former camp, then that, too, can have a negative effect on the employee. Riki Takeuchi and Kin Fai ... Read More

Performance evaluations are far from an exact science. Various studies have suggested that the evaluations may be imperfectly designed or that raters have limitations that lead to errors. Perhaps, though, the raters have other goals besides an accurate assessment of their subjects. That's the thrust behind research by Xiaoye May Wang, Kin Fai Ellick Wong and ... Read More