Valerie L. Bartelt

Bio: Valerie L. Bartelt is an academic researcher from University of Denver. The author has contributed to research in topics: Personal cloud & Job satisfaction. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 16 publications receiving 322 citations. Previous affiliations of Valerie L. Bartelt include Texas A&M University–Kingsville & Texas A&M University.

Ethnic diversity deflates price bubbles

Abstract: Markets are central to modern society, so their failures can be devastating. Here, we examine a prominent failure: price bubbles. Bubbles emerge when traders err collectively in pricing, causing misfit between market prices and the true values of assets. The causes of such collective errors remain elusive. We propose that bubbles are affected by ethnic homogeneity in the market and can be thwarted by diversity. In homogenous markets, traders place undue confidence in the decisions of others. Less likely to scrutinize others’ decisions, traders are more likely to accept prices that deviate from true values. To test this, we constructed experimental markets in Southeast Asia and North America, where participants traded stocks to earn money. We randomly assigned participants to ethnically homogeneous or diverse markets. We find a marked difference: Across markets and locations, market prices fit true values 58% better in diverse markets. The effect is similar across sites, despite sizeable differences in culture and ethnic composition. Specifically, in homogenous markets, overpricing is higher as traders are more likely to accept speculative prices. Their pricing errors are more correlated than in diverse markets. In addition, when bubbles burst, homogenous markets crash more severely. The findings suggest that price bubbles arise not only from individual errors or financial conditions, but also from the social context of decision making. The evidence may inform public discussion on ethnic diversity: it may be beneficial not only for providing variety in perspectives and skills, but also because diversity facilitates friction that enhances deliberation and upends conformity.

Putting on the Thinking Cap: Using NeuroIS to Understand Information Processing Biases in Virtual Teams

Abstract: Virtual teams are increasingly common in today's organizations, yet they often make poor decisions. Teams that interact using text-based collaboration technology typically exchange more information than when they perform the same task face-to-face, but past results suggest that team members are more likely to ignore information they receive from others. Collaboration technology makes unique demands on individual cognitive resources that may change how individual team members process information in virtual settings compared to face-to-face settings. This experiment uses electroencephalography, electrodermal activity, and facial electromyography to investigate how team members process information received from text-based collaboration during a team decision-making process. Our findings show that information that challenges an individual's prediscussion decision preference is processed similarly to irrelevant information, while information that supports an individual's prediscussion decision preference is pr...

Nature and nurture: the impact of automaticity and the structuration of communication on virtual team behavior and performance

Abstract: Much prior research on virtual teams has examined the impact of the features and capabilities of different communication tools (the nature of communication) on team performance. In this paper, we examine how the social structures (i.e., genre rules) that emerge around different communication tools (the nurture of communication) can be as important in influencing performance. During habitual use situations, team members enact genre rules associated with communication tools without conscious thought via automaticity. These genre rules influence how teams interact and ultimately how well they perform. We conducted an experimental study to examine the impact of different genre rules that have developed for two communication tools: instant messenger and discussion forum. Our results show that in habitual use situations, these tools triggered different genre rules with different behaviors, which in turn resulted in significantly different decision quality. We used heightened time pressure as a discrepant event to interrupt the automatic enactment of habitual genre rules and found that users adopted similar behaviors for both tools, which resulted in no significant differences in decision quality. These findings suggest that the automatic enactment of genre rules for a communication tool may have as powerful an effect on behavior and performance as the actual features of the tool itself. We believe that our results, taken together with past research showing the effects of social structures on communication, call for the expansion of task-technology fit theories to include the role of social structures in explaining the use of and performance from communication tools.

Individual Priming in Virtual Team Decision-Making

Abstract: Virtual teams have different interactions than face-to-face teams because they rely on information and communication technologies, which can impede or assist certain human cognitive processes. Past research has shown that although virtual teams exchange more information than face-to-face teams, poor decisions often result, because team members do not consider the unique information they receive from others. Drawing from cognitive psychology, our research explored a unique way to improve team decision-making through the use of cognitive priming. We proposed that priming group members to pay attention to others or to engage in counterfactual thinking would improve team members’ cognition and, therefore, team performance. Prior research with individuals and brainstorming teams has shown these forms of priming to improve performance; however, no research has attempted to use priming to improve the outcomes of virtual team decision-making, which requires deeper interaction and cognitive involvement than brainstorming. We performed two lab experiments using primes that have been found to improve the individual decision-making process. We found that priming had some impact, but it did not significantly improve decision quality. Various reasons are discussed to explain why priming techniques may not be as powerful in teams as in individuals, and future research ideas are suggested to build on our initial work on priming in virtual team decision-making.

Enterprise social media: combating turnover in businesses

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate how enterprise social media (ESM) use combats turnover by impacting work perceptions, and ultimately turnover intention.,This study undertook a survey at a major information technology (IT) corporation. Data from a total of 276 working professionals were collected to test the proposed research model.,The structural equation modeling results show that ESM increase workplace integration; workplace integration decreased turnover intention, augmented job satisfaction and also reduced job tensions (perceived work stress) – job satisfaction and work stress perceptions influenced turnover intention.,Low response bias is one of the limitations in this study, although this study used a priori and post hoc measures to mitigate non-response bias. This study contributed to the theory by improving our understanding of the role of ESM in combating turnover by impacting work perceptions through the lens of social capital and emotional dissonance theories. This study also has practical implications for managers. The results suggest that incorporating ESM within organizations improves employees' perceptions and behaviors – providing an option for managers to consider it as a way to save costs associated with employee turnover.,Although several studies have been conducted on ESM, our understanding of the impact of ESM on work perceptions and turnover is still far from complete. This paper helps to close the gap in literature by improving our understanding of how ESM combats turnover by influencing work perceptions in an organization, which provides an essential contribution to research and practice in the field.

Multiple criteria decision making

Abstract: In this Chapter, we imagine a decision maker (or a group of experts) trying to establish or examine fair procedures to combine opinions about alternatives related to different points of view.

Beyond the Usefulness and Ease of Use : Extending the TAM for a World - Wide - Web Context

Abstract: Ease of use and usefulness are believed to be fundamental in determining the acceptance and use of various, corporate ITs. These beliefs, however, may not explain the user’s behavior toward newly emerging ITs, such as the World-Wide-Web (WWW). In this study, we introduce playfulness as a new factor that reflects the user’s intrinsic belief in WWW acceptance. Using it as an intrinsic motivation factor, we extend and empirically validate the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) for the WWW context. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Diversity improves performance and outcomes.

Abstract: Background Research on the effects of increasing workplace diversity has grown substantially. Unfortunately, little is focused on the healthcare industry, leaving organizations to make decisions based on conflicting findings regarding the association of diversity with quality and financial outcomes. To help improve the evidence-based research, this umbrella review summarizes diversity research specific to healthcare. We also look at studies focused on professional skills relevant to healthcare. The goal is to assess the association between diversity, innovation, patient health outcomes, and financial performance. Methods Medical and business research indices were searched for diversity studies published since 1999. Only meta-analyses and large-scale studies relating diversity to a financial or quality outcome were included. The research also had to include the healthcare industry or involve a related skill, such as innovation, communication and risk assessment. Results Most of the sixteen reviews matching inclusion criteria demonstrated positive associations between diversity, quality and financial performance. Healthcare studies showed patients generally fare better when care was provided by more diverse teams. Professional skills-focused studies generally find improvements to innovation, team communications and improved risk assessment. Financial performance also improved with increased diversity. A diversity-friendly environment was often identified as a key to avoiding frictions that come with change. Conclusions Diversity can help organizations improve both patient care quality and financial results. Return on investments in diversity can be maximized when guided deliberately by existing evidence. Future studies set in the healthcare industry, will help leaders better estimate diversity-related benefits in the context of improved health outcomes, productivity and revenue streams, as well as the most efficient paths to achieve these goals.