Eliciting Advice Instead of Feedback Improves Developmental Input

Do individuals anticipate time inconsistency in others? This paper jointly investigates beliefs about one’s own and others’ present bias. In an online laboratory experiment, participants engaged in a real-effort task display little awareness of their own present bias but anticipate present bias in others. Structurally, I estimate a present bias parameter [Formula: see text] of 0.82. Participants perceive others’ [Formula: see text] to be 0.87, indicating substantial sophistication, contrasted with 1.03 for themselves, indicating full naïveté. At the individual level, asymmetric naïveté correlates with overoptimism regarding one’s own versus others’ task enjoyment and time availability. The wedge in beliefs about present bias can inform equilibrium outcomes in a number of collaborative, competitive, and hierarchical settings, including teams in the workplace, management practices such as deadlines and tournament incentive schemes, and household consumption decisions. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: Financial support from the Laboratory for Economic Applications and Policy (Harvard University); Pershing Square Venture Fund for Research on the Foundations of Human Behavior (Harvard University); Harvard Business School (PhD Research Budget); and the Russell Sage Foundation (Small Research Grant) is gratefully acknowledged. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.01780 .

We leverage an exogenous shock—the crackdown on corrupt Chinese officials beginning in 2012—and examine how the allocation of research subsidies and innovative outcomes were affected. We argue that the staggered removal of provincial heads on corruption charges during China’s anticorruption campaign and the unanticipated departures of local government officials responsible for innovation programs led to plausibly exogenous reductions in corruption. After both events, the allocation of subsidies became more sensitive to firm merit than to corruption and subsidies became more strongly associated with future innovation. Anticorruption efforts and officials’ career incentives improved the efficacy of subsidy programs.This paper was accepted by Toby Stuart, entrepreneurship and innovation.Funding: This work was supported by the Harvard Business School, Toulouse Network on Information Technology, Major projects of the National Social Fund of China [Project 22ZDA047], and National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71790601, 71722012].Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4611 .

The presence of professional highly qualified personnel in the civil service, together with modern information technologies, is possible thanks to the existence of a democratic state governed by the rule of law. The professional activity of civil servants acts as a subsystem within the civil service system. The study of the peculiarities of personal and professional development of the individual in the civil service will contribute to the disclosure of the psychological mechanisms of this process, the resolution of a number of pressing questions about the methods and possibilities of optimizing professional and personal development, which in turn will contribute to improving labour efficiency. To study the features of personal and professional development of the individual in the Russian Federation Civil Service. Survey among civil servants and comparative analysis of the results obtained in all study groups; statistical processing of the results. 120 respondents took part in the study: federal-state civil servants (40 people) and civil servants of other types (80 people). The main problems and features of personal and professional development of the individual in the civil service of the Russian Federation are identified and the main directions of optimization of the studied process are determined. The process of personal and professional development of civil servants, as will be shown in this study, is an overall result of the professional education and additional professional education, including retraining, advanced training, and internships. The main directions of optimization of the studied process are the following: improving scientific, methodological, and organizational support; increasing the motivation for professional activity and career advancement; improving the efficiency of additional professional education; developing a program for personal and professional self-development; introducing additional forms and technologies for improving professional skills of state civil servants.

This study investigated the demographic profile and the effectiveness of the Teacher Induction Program (TIP) on the personal and professional development of beginning public school teachers in CALABARZON. Most respondents were female (55.75%), aged 25-34, married, holding a Teacher I position, and pursuing Master’s Units. TIP was highly effective in helping teachers appreciate their career paths, embrace their professional responsibilities, and leverage community resources to enhance learning. The program significantly impacted teachers’ personal development, improving patience, engagement, and dedication to teaching. It also positively affected their professional development, particularly in classroom management, teaching practices, and career advancement. Significant differences were noted in the program’s effects when respondents were grouped according to demographic factors such as age, sex, and civil status, but not educational attainment. The study recommended pursuing graduate schooling, implementing differentiated learning plans, and strengthening Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for career mobility. An implementation manual was crafted to further support teachers' growth. The study suggests that future research may explore TIP’s effectiveness across different regions to create localized programs tailored to the diverse needs of beginning teachers.

Background: This guide reviews what is known about educational and clinical supervision practice through a literature review and a questionnaire survey. It identifies the need for a definition and for explicit guidelines on supervision. There is strong evidence that, whilst supervision is considered to be both important and effective, practice is highly variable. In some cases, there is inadequate coverage and frequency of supervision activities. There is particular concern about lack of supervision for emergency and ‘out of hours work’, failure to formally address under-performance, lack of commitment to supervision and finding sufficient time for supervision. There is a need for an effective system to address both poor performance and inadequate supervision.Supervision is defined, in this guide as: ‘The provision of guidance and feedback on matters of personal, professional and educational development in the context of a trainee's experience of providing safe and appropriate patient care.’ A framework for effective supervision is provided:(1) Effective supervision should be offered in context; supervisors must be aware of local postgraduate training bodies’ and institutions’ requirements; (2) Direct supervision with trainee and supervisor working together and observing each other positively affects patient outcome and trainee development; (3) Constructive feedback is essential and should be frequent; (4) Supervision should be structured and there should be regular timetabled meetings. The content of supervision meetings should be agreed and learning objectives determined at the beginning of the supervisory relationship. Supervision contracts can be useful tools and should include detail regarding frequency, duration and content of supervision; appraisal and assessment; learning objectives and any specific requirements; (5) Supervision should include clinical management; teaching and research; management and administration; pastoral care; interpersonal skills; personal development; reflection; (6) The quality of the supervisory relationship strongly affects the effectiveness of supervision. Specific aspects include continuity over time in the supervisory relationship, that the supervisees control the product of supervision (there is some suggestion that supervision is only effective when this is the case) and that there is some reflection by both participants. The relationship is partly influenced by the supervisor's commitment to teaching as well as both the attitudes and commitment of supervisor and trainee; (7) Training for supervisors needs to include some of the following: understanding teaching; assessment; counselling skills; appraisal; feedback; careers advice; interpersonal skills. Supervisors (and trainees) need to understand that: (1) helpful supervisory behaviours include giving direct guidance on clinical work, linking theory and practice, engaging in joint problem-solving and offering feedback, reassurance and providing role models; (2) ineffective supervisory behaviours include rigidity; low empathy; failure to offer support; failure to follow supervisees’ concerns; not teaching; being indirect and intolerant and emphasizing evaluation and negative aspects; (3) in addition to supervisory skills, effective supervisors need to have good interpersonal skills, good teaching skills and be clinically competent and knowledgeable.

Self-image and career orientations determine the formation and development of the future teacher as part of career advancement and professional socialization. During university studies there is a formation and development of career orientations, as well as a change of self-perception in future teachers. By understanding the prospects for career advancement and comparing them with educational opportunities and abilities, the future teacher can successfully direct self-development at achieving career goals. The effectiveness of career planning of a teacher depends largely on his/her self-confidence and ideas about career orientations, his/her satisfaction with professional activity, the consistency of professional and personal development. Aim. The purpose of the article is to identify the relationship between self-image and career orientations of future teachers. Materials and methods. The study involved 162 students of the South Ural State Humanitarian and Pedagogical University aged from 17 to 24 years. The study was based on two methods: “Career Anchors” (E. Shane), which determine the career orientations of a person; life-orientation (D.A. Leontiev), allowing to assess the degree of conviction of the subject in the ability to control his/her own life. To determine the relationship between the two variables, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used with SPSS Statistics v. 22. Results: an empirical study conducted on a sample of future teachers (n = 162) showed that there were significant correlations between self-perception and career orientations. Dependencies between two career orientations (“service”, “challenge”) with self-image (“The master of life”, “I control my life”), characterized by the ability to influence the life of the teacher, were revealed. The dominant (“work stability”, “service” and “integration of lifestyles”) and weakly expressed (“residence stability”) career orientations of future teachers were determined. It is shown that future teachers expressed a desire to shape themselves as a specialist, to transfer their experience and knowledge to their students, to embody their universal human, spiritual and moral values and ideas in their work. Students were convinced that they would be able to make the right decisions and cope with any professional difficulties. Conclusion. The results allow us to conclude that there are significant correlations between self-perceptions and career orientations in future teachers. Self-image largely determines the goals and values of the future teacher in the field of educational activities. Self-perception determines the semantic side of career orientations, while the degree of understanding of the leading career orientations affects the personal and professional development of students during training, as well as their ideas about themselves. By receiving education, future teachers strive for self-development and self-realization in the framework of "horizontal career" and clearly demonstrate their willingness to serve people and society, which confirms the need to support and develop the autopsychological competence of future teachers.

Supplementary Data Files: (1) Sample list and description; (2) GPS positions of samples; (3) Accuracy of major and trace element bulk rock compositions and precision of repeat analyses; (4) Photomicrographs; (5) Clinopyroxene, plagioclase and olivine compositions; (6) SHRIMP U-Pb methods and results; (7) 7. Nb-Zr-Y tectonic discrimination diagram; (8) Ti-Zr-Y tectonic discrimination diagram; (9) Ti-V tectonic discrimination diagram; (10) MgO-FeOtot_Al2O3 tectonic discrimination diagram; (11) AFM diagram; and (12) Th/Nb vs. SiO2 diagram.

Supplementary Data Files: (1) Sample list and description; (2) GPS positions of samples; (3) Accuracy of major and trace element bulk rock compositions and precision of repeat analyses; (4) Photomicrographs; (5) Clinopyroxene, plagioclase and olivine compositions; (6) SHRIMP U-Pb methods and results; (7) 7. Nb-Zr-Y tectonic discrimination diagram; (8) Ti-Zr-Y tectonic discrimination diagram; (9) Ti-V tectonic discrimination diagram; (10) MgO-FeOtot_Al2O3 tectonic discrimination diagram; (11) AFM diagram; and (12) Th/Nb vs. SiO2 diagram.

Prior research and lay intuition suggest that amplifying image concerns promotes generosity. We test the impact of image-based interventions in consumer elective pricing (CEP), where individuals choose how much to pay for products or services. Across 10 studies (nine field experiments and one laboratory study, n = 3,182), we examine the effects of these interventions on payments and elicit forecasts from independent participants (n = 1,636). Forecasters predict large positive effects, yet behavioral data reveal small and inconsistent impacts. What drives the inconsistency between predictions and actual outcomes? Studies with more than 4,000 forecasters show that neither simulating the decision-making experience nor prior experience with CEP improve prediction accuracy. However, avoiding direct comparisons between experimental conditions—which can artificially amplify perceived differences—reduces overestimation. These findings highlight challenges associated with transferring behavioral insights across contexts and show how forecast elicitation methods shape expectations of intervention effectiveness. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.00149 .

Problem definition: Whereas artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms may perform well on data that are representative of the training set (inliers), they may err when extrapolating on nonrepresentative data (outliers). How can humans and algorithms work together to make better decisions when faced with outliers and inliers? Methodology/results: We study a human–AI collaboration on prediction tasks using a bias adjustment framework and hypothesize that humans tend toward naïve adjusting behavior: humans make adjustments to AI predictions that are too similar across inliers and outliers when, ideally, adjustments should be larger on outliers than inliers. In an online experiment, we demonstrate that participants are indeed unable to sufficiently differentiate their adjustments to an AI algorithm when faced with both inliers and outliers, leading to a 143%–176% increase in their absolute deviation from the optimal prediction compared with participants facing either all inliers or all outliers. We design a warning (an endorsement) that alerts participants when feature values constitute outliers (inliers), and in a second experiment, we show that this warning (endorsement) helps participants differentiate adjustments, reducing their absolute deviation from the optimal prediction by an average of 35% (28%). Deploying both interventions together reduces participants’ absolute deviation from the optimal prediction by 49%. In a third experiment, we demonstrate the robustness of warnings and endorsements in the presence of “fringeliers”—data points with features marginally outside the range of the training data set. Managerial implications: Our work details an important behavioral bias and identifies a simple educational intervention for mitigation. Ultimately, we hope that this work will help managers better equip their employees for human–AI collaboration. Funding: Funding was provided by Harvard Business School. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2024.0854 .

This research investigates the factors influencing employee engagement within recruitment companies in Thailand. The study examines six independent variables: compensation, career advancement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, leadership, and reward and recognition. Data were collected from 385 respondents employed at various recruitment companies in Thailand using a combination of convenience and snowball sampling methods. Descriptive analysis, and multiple linear regression were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that compensation, career advancement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment significantly influenced employee engagement, all with P-values less than 0.05. Combined, these four independent variables accounted for 82.1% of the variation in employee engagement. Of these, job satisfaction had the most profound influence on employee engagement, contributing 39.0%. The study suggests that recruitment companies should prioritize enhancing job satisfaction factors. It's crucial to understand the specific contributors to employee job satisfaction. Implementing regular employee satisfaction surveys and feedback sessions can pinpoint areas needing improvement, such as work-life balance, workload distribution, and acknowledgment of accomplishments. Offering clear career advancement opportunities and professional development can also empower employees, showcasing the organization's commitment to their growth.

Though numerous scholars have studied subjective time, its predictors and effects, the general model considering demographic variables, cultural values and level of wellbeing is not presented. This study seeks to bridge this gap by contributing a comparative study of two very different countries: Ecuador (N=745, aged 19—76, 48.7% male), a Latin American developing country, and Russia (N=428, aged 18—72, 40.2% male), an emerging Eurasian nation. We assumed that temporal focus plays the role of a mediator in the relationship between cultural values and subjective happiness in both countries. To predict the temporal focus (Temporal Focus Scale by Shipp, Edwards, and Lambert, 2009) in both countries, based on the previous literature the study tests the importance of three groups of variables: demographic factors (gender, age, education, income), subjective happiness (Subjective Happiness Scale by Lyubomirsky and Lepper, 1999), and cultural values (Cultural Values Scale by Yoo, Donthu and Lenartowics, 2011). The first stage of analysis involved confirmatory factor analyses and invariance tests for the scales used. Subsequently, multiple regression models made it possible to establish that sociodemographic variables, introduced as covariates, had little influence on the prediction of people's temporal orientation. However, the cultural and psychological variables (long-term orientation, uncertainty avoidance and subjective happiness) introduced as predictors played an important role in the prediction of temporal (current, past and future) focus. Additionally, there are some cultural and psychological predictors of temporal focus specific for each country. Ultimately, structural equation models demonstrated that temporal focus plays the role of the mediator in the relationship between cultural values and subjective happiness in both Ecuador and Russia.

Supplementary Appendix: Proofs of Propositions 1 and 2 from “Buyer Search and Price Dispersion: A Laboratory Study,” by Timothy N. Cason and Daniel Friedman

The current study investigated the Iranian Teaching English as a Foreign language (TEFL) Ph.D. candidates’ (TPCs) professional identity development during the TEFL Ph.D. education program (TPEP). Applying a mixed-method design, the current study used two kinds of instruments: a four-point, Likert-scale, a researcher-made questionnaire on TPCs’ professional identity development, and the semi-structured interviews. First, the survey was mailed to 80 university instructors. Then, to yield an in-depth understanding of how TPCs develop their professional identity, TPCs with more than 10 years of intensive experience were asked to participate in the interview. Following the quantitative data analysis, the qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using descriptive qualitative content analysis techniques. The results indicated that the majority of the participants believed that TPEP caused them to gain social legitimation from their community of practice, to get socialized to their global community, and raised their social status; therefore, they believed that not only professional but also personal development took place. Furthermore, it developed their pedagogical knowledge; however, it created small changes in the likelihood of TPCs’ career advancement and led to a small increase in their job satisfaction and security. The findings of the study can have some pedagogical implications for teacher education programs in that they can be used to emphasize their strengths, eliminate their weaknesses, and incorporate ample opportunities for TPCs’ reflection on their current and aspiring professional identities and improve their performance in classes.

This paper examines the impact of the expansion of the U.S. Postal Service in the late 19th century on firm creation and performance. Utilizing newly digitized archival data on historic business establishments, post office locations, and road networks in California, our study identifies a positive relationship between the expansion of the Postal Service and the emergence of new firms. To address endogeneity concerns, we leverage an unexpected change in the Postal Service route network. Our findings suggest that the Postal Service played a significant role in facilitating firm entry by acting as a carrier of specialized knowledge rather than as a financial service or mass communication infrastructure. We further reveal that, although increased competition from new entrants generally exerted downward pressure on incumbent firms, those relying on specialized knowledge and public technology inputs significantly benefited from local Postal Service access. Taken together, our study underscores the critical role played by the Postal Service in knowledge diffusion and local economic development by enabling the sourcing of specialized knowledge and technologies from other geographies. Overall, our results contribute to a broader understanding of how communication and knowledge dissemination infrastructure can drive entrepreneurship and firm growth, carrying important implications for contemporary discussions on infrastructure development, its potential to stimulate entrepreneurial activity, innovation, and foster local economic communities. This paper was accepted by Olav Sorenson, organizations. Funding: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Harvard Business School Division of Research and Faculty Development. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.03369 .