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In management research, little is known about how ethno-racial minority leaders interact with similar employees in supervisor–subordinate relationships. This study aims to examine and provide a deeper understanding of individuals’ negative reactions to similar others, thus highlighting the double-edged nature of demographic similarity which has historically predicted positive affective reactions.

Using a survey design, the authors collected data from supervisor-subordinate dyads from multiple companies from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, USA. They used ordinary least squares regression and conditional process analysis to test the hypotheses, including a two-stage moderation and moderated mediation.

Incorporating social context, i.e. minority status, as a moderator, the results show that ethno-racial minority leaders supervising ethno-racially similar subordinates were more vulnerable to relationship conflict than non-minority dyads. This, in turn, is linked to a reduction in the leaders’ feelings of trust toward their ethno-racially similar subordinate.

This study draws on social identity theory and status characteristics theory to explain the contradictory processes and outcomes associated with dyadic ethno-racial similarity and suggests the conditions under which dyad racial similarity is connected with unfavorable outcomes. This framework helps to broaden the boundary conditions of relational demography to provide a more nuanced explanation of when and why minority leaders in demographically similar hierarchical dyads experience more relationship conflict, which ultimately diminishes trust.

Organisations are facing enormous changes in the demographic composition of the workforce. Racial groups that have traditionally been professionally isolated from one another are working together as more minorities are assimilated into the workforce (Lewan, 1990). The Hudson Institute's Workforce 2000 statistics project that women, minorities, and immigrants will soon make up the majority of new entrants into the American workforce (Johnston & Packer, 1987). This diversity brings numerous racial and cultural differences into corporations. As a result, managing diversity increasingly appears on the agendas of organisational leaders (Cox & Blake, 1991).

This paper aims to offer insights regarding antecedents and consequences of relationship conflict in supervisor‐subordinate dyads, regardless of the demographic characteristics of the dyads. The authors explain the causes and outcomes of relationship conflict utilizing an affective approach, and suggest that factors such as moods, values, and situational context play an important role in influencing relationship conflict and its outcomes – intention to quit and trust in supervisor.

The authors surveyed 200 employees of multiple companies in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. They utilized hierarchical regression, (with the inclusion of two‐ and three‐way interaction terms) to test their hypotheses and interaction effects.

Negative mood and positive mood interacted to impact the level of relationship conflict experienced by subordinates. Subordinates' collectivism values strengthened the impact of the positive mood‐negative mood interaction on relationship conflict. Mentoring and supervisor‐subordinate dyad tenure moderated the relationship conflict to outcomes associations.

The study goes beyond traditional relational demography research in order to offer new insights and perspectives on the causes and outcomes of relationship conflict at different hierarchical levels from an affective approach, specifically, moods theory. Since relationship conflict is an inevitable process, an understanding of antecedents and consequences of the conflict can allow managers to be better equipped to create a healthy work environment.

A laboratory experiment explores the perceived fairness of hiring decisions with regards to justifications that might reduce the negative reactions of job recipients. In particular, we examine the effects of no justification, and the affirmative action argument on the perceived fairness of the hiring of women and minorities. Results indicate that the hiring decision is perceived to be fairer when no justification is given than when affirmative action is used to justify the decision. The perception of decision was further moderated by proportional values with stronger effects for men than women.

The current study seeks to provide predictions for task conflict in supervisor‐subordinate dyads and to test empirically the mediation effects of task conflict between organizational culture/subordinate values and subordinate outcomes.

Structural equation modeling was employed to test the theoretical model.

It was found that task conflict mediates the relationship between a clan culture and intention to quit. Additionally, support was also found for the mediating effect of task conflict on the relationship between individualistic values and intention to quit.

More research is needed to take into consideration the variables influencing task conflict in both vertical and horizontal dyadic relationships. A dynamic view of conflict may further contribute to the existing literature.

More remedies are needed in organizations to foster positive employees' attitudes and wellbeing through the generation of task conflicts. For example, fostering a clan culture instead of a hierarchy may be vital.

The current study demonstrates that organizational culture/subordinate's values may be linked to different subordinate outcomes through task conflict.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between CEO compensation and employee attitudes.

Based upon equity/organizational justice theories and the CEO compensation literature, hypotheses were developed which suggest that executive compensation and employee attitudes will be related. These hypotheses were tested by linking a large‐scale survey of employee attitudes to CEO compensation data for public companies based in the USA.

Employee attitudes appear to be related to some measures of CEO compensation, although sometimes the relationship that was found was negative and sometimes it was positive, but in all cases the effect size was quite small. Specifically, change in CEO salary was negatively related to evaluation of senior management and general satisfaction. However, change in total CEO compensation was positively related to evaluation of senior management and general satisfaction, while CEO bonus level was positively related to general satisfaction.

Limitations of this study include the inability to show a causal relationship, limited external validity, equations that explain only a small amount of variance and attitudinal measures that are single source. Future research which helps understand what employees know and why differences across organizations exist would be helpful.

From an employee attitude perspective, changing performance‐based components of CEO compensation (e.g. bonus) is better than changing CEO salary. However, if salary is going to be increased, a communication plan for employees should be developed.

Whether executive compensation has an impact on employees' attitudes has not been explored previously.

This article seeks to illustrate how social commonalities between employees and their customers often result in customers believing that they are entitled to discounts in retail settings.

This study employs survey methodology to reveal the extent to which various social commonalities between customers and service providers encourage customers to believe that they are entitled to financial discounts.

The findings show that commonalities may cause customers to adhere to narcissism – that is, many customers may expect discounts even when they know that employees may jeopardize their jobs by providing them.

Customer relationships dramatically change with commonalities, as customers believe that social relationships propel them to “best customer status” and that they are entitled to discounts.

Customers who become increasingly connected with employees expect relational benefits that usually require time to develop. Retailers that encourage their employees to develop social media bonds with their customers must realize that customers desire to be financially rewarded for maintaining these linkages.

This work reveals that customers who maintain social commonalities with employees expect to receive some type of financial benefit from doing so.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the research presented at the 2016 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Conference in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The report is based on six papers, of interest to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion readers, which were selected from the proceedings and presentations made at the conference. The papers vary in terms of research design, methodology and approach. There was a mix of conceptual/review papers and empirical studies, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

The papers presented new directions on equality, diversity and inclusion research. Findings from exploratory papers indicated the need to develop an understanding of the notion of solidarity and the divisive and inclusive elements of the enactment of solidarity. Empirical studies reveal that women and people from black and minority ethnic communities continue to be excluded and marginalized, whereas there is a call for greater consideration of age in the social, economic, political and market arenas.

This report integrates unique insights on “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Human Rights in Times of Austerity”, as these were presented and discussed at the EDI 2016 Conference.

This paper aims to test the idea generation capabilities of online text-based focus groups as compared to the traditional in-person focus groups using sustainability in the hospitality industry as the idea generation topic. Idea generation quantity and quality are analyzed and the theoretical and practical implications for the hospitality industry are discussed.

An experimental study tested the quality of ideas generated by online versus in-person focus groups. Participants were purposively sampled from the hospitality program at a large southeastern United States university and randomly assigned into one of two treatment groups: online text-based or traditional in-person focus groups. During both treatment groups participants generated ideas focused on sustainability in the hospitality industry.

The online focus group generated a comparable quantity of ideas, in addition to a similar average quality of ideas and number of good ideas.

The generation of ideas and the selection of opportunities drive the innovation process through which firms can strengthen their competitive advantage and maintain and grow market share and profitability. The results of this study may assist hospitality firms in determining which form of qualitative research delivers the highest return on investment by generating the best ideas at the lowest cost.

This paper breaks new ground by assessing the effectiveness of idea generation in online versus traditional focus groups, comparing both the quantity and quality of ideas generated from an experimental study that uses random assignment.

The aim of this research is to better inform public policy makers and the disaster management community about the use of early warning systems. The central research question of this article is how local governments should provide early warning to the citizenry of impending tornado danger.

The main objectives of the paper were achieved by reviewing the literature on early warning systems for tornadoes and by conducting a content analysis of news reports, from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, which identified the most cost‐effective early warning system for tornadoes. The theoretical approach of the paper covered the responses, results, and recommendations themes from the disaster management early warning system literature.

The study concludes with a disaster management policy recommendation for an early warning system for tornadoes for local government. The paper's recommendation is to utilize the cost‐effective NOAA weather radios to alert the citizenry of impending tornado danger. This recommendation is also generalizable to early warning systems for hurricanes, flash flooding, terrorist attacks, and other major natural and man‐made disasters.

A research limitation is that the paper focuses on Central Florida. Future research could begin with the paper's findings and generalize these findings to other areas internationally.

The paper will better inform governmental policy makers and members of the disaster management community about the early warning system alternatives available to warn the citizenry of impending tornado danger. It will hopefully begin a dialogue among disaster management practitioners and academics about early warning systems for tornadoes.

The paper fills a gap in the tornado early warning system literature. Heretofore, there has been little writing, which this paper reviews, that compares early warning systems for tornadoes. However, the original value of the paper is that it specifically focuses on the instrument of warning the citizenry of tornadoes, the time of day of the tornado event, and the life‐saving effects of tornado warnings. The value of the paper will be to public policy makers world‐wide and to the growing disaster management community.