UTA professor wins best dissertation award
Hanbo Shim, a University of Texas at Arlington assistant professor of management, recently won the Ralph Alexander Best Dissertation Award from the Academy of Management’s (AoM) Human Resources Division. The award will be presented at AoM’s 84th annual meeting this August.
The AoM Human Resources Division is dedicated to understanding and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of human resources practices. It is one of AoM’s largest divisions, with over 3,300 members. The Ralph Alexander award is presented to research dissertations that have contributed to solving significant obstacles in the human resources field.
Dr. Shim’s winning dissertation, “Understanding the Construct and Measure of Job Performance Over Time,” delves into the ways employee job performance is captured in the short term and long term.
“This study highlights the importance of more frequent or short-term performance feedback so employees can make more effective behavioral decisions on a short-term basis,” Shim explained. “It also informs individual employees about what would be ideal short-term performance behaviors to win a more favorable rating in the long term.”
Through his research, Shim found that there was a deep correlation between short-term tasks and long-term employee ratings.
“Individuals’ short-term performance behaviors—such as performing their own tasks or helping others—can lead to different levels of long-term performance with different patterns,” said Shim. “This implies that the momentary decisions you make every day or every week in terms of how you work can create differences in your annual performance ratings.”
He hopes his research will have a lasting impact on not only the field of human resources, but also on the decision-making capabilities of leadership as a whole.
“Once you have more accurate and frequent data about employee performance, you’re able to make more timely and effective decisions,” he said.
Shim was happy to receive this prestigious award, though he views it more as a successful team effort that will allow the field to advance.
“I celebrated when I found out, not just with the people here at UTA, but with my fellow researchers and my dissertation director, Michael Sturman, at Rutgers,” he said. “I felt joy, but I was also grateful to have the opportunity to give back. It feels great to find out that we can contribute something big to the organization and people we serve.”
— Written by Thomas Johns, College of Business