editorial note. we Present to your attention the August column, "In search of ideas" recent studies of foreign scientists.
OPERATIONS | the True price of last place in the queue
Imagine that the supermarket in front of you are five people. It would seem that you should not worry, stood there someone else behind you, because your waiting time is not affected. But the experiment proved to be in line the last person uncomfortable.
Among the 284 buyers grocery store those after whom no one took part, four times more often passed from the cashier to the cashier (it's bad for the store because the people who are changing the queue, the result is usually mad waiting longer and stronger). An experiment in which 301 participants could see their position in the online queue, confirmed: those who long was the last, put the estimate waiting time 19% below other — including those who, though not the last, waited much longer. Another experiment, where some participants reported their relative position, proved learn that he is the last in a queue of people four times more often goes (in a real situation it means losing the client). Scientists believe that the reason for the impatience is the absence of object of comparison in their favor. Standing last, one thinks, "If no one is willing to wait here longer than me, maybe I shouldn't wait?".
According to some estimates, Americans spend in queues for 118 hours a year, so expectation management can be an important factor of customer satisfaction. Most managers think that the focus is improving the speed of service and reducing wait time. New studies propose to focus on the end of the queue. "Help them to escape and not let us see that they last (the others recall that they are not at the end) — and then customers will be less likely to leave the queue," writes the researcher.
ABOUT the STUDY "Last Place Aversion in Queues", Ryan W. Buell (working paper)
PRODUCTIVITY | Management problem downtime
Most professionals complain of the excessive employment. However, new research professions such as Manager, lawyer and doctor, suggest a fundamentally different problem. During the survey, 78% of participants indicated downtime — periods when they have to wait for a new task (for example, the client services officer will call a customer) — at least once a week, and 22% are faced with them every day. Not only that loitering around, people get paid for the work. It is known that the downtime forced to work slower.
In the real and online experiments, participants were given the task of typing, which occupied not all the time, warning that a shutdown can not do anything. Realizing that, when finished, will have to sit idly by participants slowed down the tempo ("the effect of idle time" opposite the famous "deadline effect", forcing us to accelerate). Subsequent experiments demonstrated that for prevention of downtime is enough to change the rules — for example, allow employees to get a new job to go to the Internet. "It seems that managers are not aware of the true size of the downtime of its employees, because to disclose it is not in the interests of the latter, write the researchers. We hope that our findings... will attract attention and help to develop solutions to the problem."
ABOUT the STUDY The Downside of Downtime: The Prevalence and Consequences of Work Pacing Idle Time at Work", Andrew Brodsky, Teresa M. Amabile ("Journal of Applied Psychology", is preparing to leave)
PRICING | Why are we less appreciative of digital goods
digital products a lot of advantages over physical ones: they are easier to transport, store and restore, they are more resistant to theft, wear and tear. However, the sale of physical goods such as books and DVDs continue to grow in many product categories, consumers still prefer a tangible medium of digital.
Trying to explain this paradox, the researchers conducted a series of online and offline experiments that included films, novels, textbooks and photos. The participants were asked how much they are willing to pay for the same product in electronic and physical form, were requested to indicate the maximum price and checked whether they choose a physical or electronic product at the same price. To understand the reasons for the choice, the participants were asked what is the cost of things, can you resell it, how much it will last. But the determining factor has been very different: "... a digital product does not cause feelings of ownership in the same way that the physical, the researchers explain. — Because of the immateriality of the acquisition does not seem significant. The purchase it is impossible to pick up, and you do not feel like her master."
Scientists suggest ways to overcome this prejudice: for example, to give a digital product is a kind of physical (to accompany the e-book a picture of the real books on the shelf, where you have to touch to open text) or allow the user to change a digital product for themselves, to feel her master.
ABOUT the STUDY "Digital Goods Are Valued Less Than Physical Goods", Ozgun Atasoy, Carey K. Morewedge ("Journal of Consumer Research", 2017)
GLOBALIZATION As "a multi-cultural brokers" to help teams work
Studies prove that teams, which include representatives of different countries, higher creativity, but lower efficiency probably due to cultural differences. New experiments show how this situation helps well versed in multiple cultures "broker".
In one experiment was established 83 teams of three. In each there were two "monocultural" participant (one from USA and one from India) and one representative of the two cultures; among the latter were the Americans of Indian origin (called "cultural insiders") and people from other Western and Asian countries (e.g., Canada and South Korea) — they are designated as "cultural outsiders". Team online chats worked to plan a multicultural wedding I had to pick ceremony music and treats from India and the United States. These chat rooms are then analyzed to determine which of the team members tried to get information ("What song decided to play on the American marriage?"), and who is to combine the traditions ("Maybe we should make a Remix West songs in the style of bollywood?"). Then, the experts evaluated the quality of the teams ideas.
Results little depended on the insider was part of the group or an outsider, but the experience is largely determined by its composition. Indoamerican (insiders) have skillfully integrated information, while outsiders mostly got it, that too was useful to the group.
still, says the study's author, "theory of the creation of the teams came from the fact that each person belongs to only one cultural tradition." The conclusion which can do for yourself managers: when creating commands, you can use the potential of employees, familiar with two cultures: maybe they have a point of intersection with the different groups of participants. Cultural outsiders, on the other hand, can make a difference by asking questions and bringing out new and important information.
ABOUT the STUDY "Cultural Brokerage and Creative Performance in Multicultural Teams", Sujin Jang ("Organization Science", 2017)
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