Center for Corporate Performance

Working hours and top management appointments

Do you have to burn the mid-night oil to become a top manager? And, why? In a new research project we study how long working hours are related to top management appointments. Using a large national survey, we can establish if you have to work the longest hours among peers to be promoted, if you have to work longer than desired, and if your long hours will help you get a top job in general or just in your current company. By answering these questions it becomes clear if the long hours are important because you participate in a competition, because they signal that you are a long-hour person or because you participate in a rat race. Learning why long working hours are important for career progression is important because it helps firms when they set up incentive systems; and in policy discussion about work-life balance. The project is conducted in collaboration with a professor from Colgate University (USA).
 

Responding to regulation

Companies are regulated and they have to accommodate the imposed constraints every day. But, how do companies act when new regulation is imposed? Are they passively accepting the changes, making just fine-grain adjustments, or are they truly re-optimizing taking into account the new constraints? In the research project “Responding to regulation” we study how a labor market reform, which ended mandatory retirement in the US, impacts firm behavior. We study the consequences for worker incentives, the performance management system, and the organizational structure. The project has received funding from the Danish Research Council and is conducted in collaboration with a professor from Minnesota University (USA).
 

The CCP Sickness Absence Project

CCP is engaged in a large cross-organizational sickness absence study involving Velux, Chr. Hansen, ISS, Novozymes, Hospitalsenheden Vest, Rigspolitiet, and Herning and Holstebro municipalities. The research project intends to shed light on public and private sector differences in sickness absence, map out the relationship between employee and organizational characteristics and sickness absence, and to determine the underlying structures of sickness absence across various employee subgroups such as production workers, office personnel, and managers.
 

Managers and Performance Management Systems

Many firms struggle with their performance management systems. In CCP we study performance management systems in detail to advance our knowledge about such systems. In the research project “Managers and Performance Management Systems” we study the role that managers play in these systems. The project intends to shed light on how managers rate their subordinates - if there are systematic differences in the way managers rate their subordinates, and if such differences influence the employees’ career development. The project is based on data from a CCP member company and is conducted in collaboration with professors from Yale School of Management (USA) and McGill University (Canada)