Brian Lyons presents papers at Academy of Management Annual Meeting

The associate professor of management presented three papers, one of which was named a finalist for best paper in the human resources division.

Brian Lyons, associate professor of management in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, presented three papers at the 75th Academy of Management Annual Meeting, held Aug. 7-11 in Vancouver, Canada.

The paper “Benchmarking the frequency, content, and efficacy of peer reporting policies” was named a finalist for best paper in the human resources division, placing among the top five out of 350 submissions. It will be published in the Academy of Management’s Best Paper Proceedings. Lyons co-authored the paper with N.A. Bowling, A. Gibson and Z. Zimmerlin.

The paper’s abstract reads:

“Employee theft, verbal altercations between co-workers, and destruction of company property are a few examples of employee misbehaviors that threaten an organization’s effectiveness. These misbehaviors—referred to as counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs)—are often difficult for management to detect. To facilitate the detection of CWBs, organizations may enact peer reporting policies requiring workers to report the CWBs of their co-workers. Little is known, however, about the frequency, content, and efficacy of such policies. We thus conducted two studies to address these issues. In Study 1, we found that 97.6% of a sample within the Fortune 250 have peer reporting policies and we also established benchmarks for the content of these policies. In Study 2, we found that the presence of policy clarity and policy consequences both strengthened the relationship between CWB observing and reporting behavior. We interpret these latter findings within the framework of situational strength theory.”

Lyons also presented “Using selection methods to reduce criminal off-duty deviance” and “Off-duty deviance: Organizational policies and evidence for a prevention strategy.” He co-authored both papers with B.J. Hoffman, W.H. Bommer, A. Hetrick and C. Kennedy.

The Academy of Management is the preeminent professional association for management and organization scholars. Its annual meeting brought together more than 10,000 top scholars and researchers from 84 different countries.