Research

Under Review

1. "Working Smarter, Not Longer, When Time is Limited: Work-Hour Restrictions, Pay-for-Performance, and Firm-level Productivity"
   • With Joonyoung Kim
   • 2nd round revise-and-resubmit at Journal of Applied Psychology

   We study how work-hour restrictions affect firm productivity using panel data of 514 firm-year observations from 251 firms under Korea's 52-hour policy. Firms experience productivity declines after the policy, driven by disrupted effort–performance expectations when duration-based work is constrained. Firms subject to the policy show negative average productivity effects in the initial period. Due to limited working time, employees must shift from duration-based to intensity-based effort. Firms with stronger performance-based pay show weaker productivity losses because incentives strengthen performance–reward linkages and motivate this adjustment.

2. "Shared Adversity, Greater Effort: How Hyperinflation Alters the Meaning and Motivational Influence of Economic Hardship"
   • With John Schaubroeck, Ann Peng, & Ozgur Demirtas
   • 2nd round revise-and-resubmit at Personnel Psychology

   We study how economic hardship affects employee work effort using a field sample of 409 healthcare employees in Türkiye during a period of extreme inflation (~85%) and two experiments. Employees typically reduce effort under hardship, driven by cognitive strain and self-focused concerns, but maintain effort when hardship is widely shared during hyperinflation. Workers experiencing worsening hardship show no decline in effort in the field and weaker negative effects in experiments under hyperinflation. Due to shared economic conditions, individuals shift toward a salient social identity that emphasizes role obligations. This sustains work effort and links to higher job performance among those high in perspective taking.

Working Papers

1. "Does the 'Why' Matter? Differences in Replacement vs. Expansion Hiring"
   • With John Arnold, Joonyoung Kim, & Talya Bauer
   • Preparing to submit: Journal of Applied Psychology

   We study how hiring context (expansion vs. replacement) affects new hire quality and turnover using archival data from 8,198 call center employees at a U.S. telecommunications firm (2018–2020). Expansion hires score higher on selection assessments, indicating better average applicant quality, while replacement hires show lower scores across performance-related constructs. Replacement hires also exhibit higher turnover risk (about 17% higher hazard), and overall turnover in the sample is high (50.7%). Due to differences in hiring context, replacement roles appear harder to fill with high-quality candidates, contributing to worse outcomes.

2. "What Does Behavioral Consistency Really Mean? A Meta-analysis of Method Factors and Outcomes in Employee Selection"
   • With John Arnold, Chad van Iddekinge, & Filip Lievens
   • Target: Journal of Applied Psychology

   We study behavioral consistency in employee selection, conducting a meta-analysis of 67 studies (78 samples; N = 26,377) covering procedures like assessment centers, work samples, and behavioral interviews. These methods are assumed to predict performance because past or simulated behavior reflects future job behavior, but theory used to develop these predictions are inconsistently applied. Across studies, behavioral consistency procedures show moderate predictive validity (≈ .35), with substantial variation across implementations. Procedures with higher construct consistency show stronger validity (≈ .42 vs .25 when low), indicating that how consistency is implemented matters for prediction.

3. "Managing Pay Dispersion in Flatter Organizational Hierarchies"
   • With Joonyoung Kim
   • Target: Journal of Applied Psychology

   We study how flattening organizational hierarchy shapes the effects of vertical and horizontal pay dispersion on firm-level labor productivity using a quasi-experimental firm setting. Firms that flatten hierarchy weaken the productivity benefits of vertical pay dispersion, driven by the loss of clear promotion ladders that make tournament incentives meaningful. At the same time, flattening strengthens the positive association between horizontal pay dispersion and firm productivity because pay differences become more visible and trigger sorting, where lower-paid (and lower-performing) employees exit.

4. "A Theoretical Investigation of Performance Improvement Plans"
   • With John Schaubroeck
   • Target: Personnel Psychology

   We study how employees interpret and respond to Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), focusing on how social context shapes their meaning and attribution in organizations. We offer that employees form expectations about whether improvement is possible and whether termination is likely, based on cues from peers and supervisors. Peer information signals whether others improve or are terminated, while supervisor framing shapes how those signals are interpreted. When employees expect improvement to be attainable, they engage more with work, whereas expectations of inevitable termination lead to withdrawal behaviors like turnover intentions and job search.

Teaching

Teaching is an incredibly important part of my scholarly identity. It is an opportunity for me to connect with bright, ambitious students and share meaningful knowledge that not only prepares them professionally, but also helps them grow as thoughtful and capable individuals in their personal lives.

Instructor

• MGMT 4030/7030 – Organizational Behavior (4.8/5) · Fall 2025 View Evaluations for Fall 2025
• MGMT 4030/7030 – Organizational Behavior (4.8/5) · Spring 2025 View Evaluations for Spring 2025
• MGMT 4030/7030 – Organizational Behavior (4.7/5) · Fall 2024 View Evaluations for Fall 2024

Student Comments

• "Cyrus is an amazing educator. The course content is extremely interesting... and Cyrus does an amazing job at showing the students how the content is applicable to daily life and work. I was able to understand my peers' beliefs in a deep way by working with them on several assignments."
• "He has been one of my favorite professors at Mizzou... His teaching style is very engaging and collaborative."
• "Cyrus applied the concepts from class to real life scenarios or popular movies/shows that helped me understand."

Contact

Send a Message