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Research

Now, more than ever before, there is a heightened awareness about the importance of "speaking up" in organizations. 
Organizations can correct their mistakes, improve their products, and stay true to their moral compass when employees
step up as proactive citizens, strive to constructively change the status quo, and speak up. Yet, repeated evidence shows that 
employees are still too silent, or too unappreciated and disregarded for speaking up at work. 
This unfortunate reality raises three critical questions that have fueled my research program:

01

Why don't organizations reward employees for speaking up?

02

What prevents employees from speaking up?

03

How can employees stay proactive at work?

I bring in novel theoretical lenses to bear answers to these questions. ​I have examined through the prisms of social class and attribution theory when and why employees’ voice and proactivity are not rewarded. I have highlighted how employees’ trust in their leaders prevents them from speaking up, especially in the face of organizational threats of ambiguous nature. I have also shown how managers’ efforts to encourage voice can go awry due to an egocentric empathy gap. I also have additional projects that have been inspired by my primary research program, delving into topics such as bias, social class, and status dynamics. 

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My research appears in outlets such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Harvard Business Review, and has won the Academy of Management Best Empirical or Theoretical Paper Award. I utilize field surveys, experiments, qualitative interviews, and archival data in my research. 

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Research progress updated as of September 2023:

Refereed Publications

  • Park, H., Tangirala, S., Hussain, I., & Ekkirala, S. (2022). How and when managers reward employees’ voice: The role of proactivity attributions. Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001008

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  • Derfler-Rozin, R.*, & Park, H.* (2022). Ethics and honesty in organizations: Unique organizational challenges. 
    Current Opinion in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101401
    * Equal author contributions. Names appear in alphabetical order.

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  • Derfler-Rozin, R.*, Isaakayn, S.*, & Park, H.* (2022). Swiftly judging whom to bring on board: How person perception (accurate or not) influences selection of prospective team members. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104206
    * Equal author contributions. Names appear in alphabetical order.

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  • Lemay, E., Park, H., Fernandez, J., & Marr, J.C. (Conditionally Accepted). The position that awaits: Implications of expected future status for performance, helping, motivation, and well-being at work.  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Other Publication

Manuscripts Invited for Revision or Under Review

  • Park, H., Tangirala, S., Ekkirala, S., & Sanaria, A. Unnoticed problems and overlooked opportunities: How and when employees fail to speak up under ambiguous threats. [2nd Round R&R, Journal of Applied Psychology] ​

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  • Park, H., Tangirala, S., Gajendran, R. S., & Sethi, D. Model citizen or squeaky wheel? How employees of lower social class origins face ambivalent reactions at work. [1st Round R&R, Administrative Science Quarterly]​

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  • Hussain, I., Tangirala, S., Park, H., & Ekkirala, S. The radical idea effect: How highly divergent ideas create positive spillover effects on managerial implementation of other ideas in the team. [Under Review, Organization Science] 

Selected Works in Progress

  • Park, H., Tangirala, S., & Ekkirala, S. Don’t ask unless you mean it: Manager’s ceremonial solicitation induces employee cynicism for voice. [Writing stage. Target: Academy of Management Journal]

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  • Park, H., & Tangirala, S. Passing off upward versus downward: The asymmetrical effects of faking social class origins. [Qualitative study completed. Experiments in progress. Target: Administrative Science Quarterly]

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  • Park, H., Derfler-Rozin, R., & Bartol, K. M. “Perfect pitch” for networking? How the content of elevator pitch and gender influence networking success. [Writing stage. Target: Academy of Management Journal]

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  • Park, H., Sah, S., & Tangirala, S. The voice empathy gap: How employees and managers hold differing beliefs about lack of voice. [Writing stage. Target: Organization Science]

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  • Park, H., Tangirala, S., Gajendran, R. S., & Ozgen, S. Feeling grateful and paying it forward in adversity: How actions of community leaders during disasters promote workplace helping. [Writing stage. Target: Personnel Psychology]

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  • Park, H., Tangirala, S., Gajendran, R. S., & Ozgen, S. Work identity hurts but resilience helps: Effects of professional isolation on employee effectiveness. [Writing stage. Target: Academy of Management Journal]

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  • Park, H.*, Sohn, J.*, & Seo, M. How the unequal distributions of OCB among team members elicit negative emotions and affect team outcomes. [Field study in progress. Target: Academy of Management Journal]
    * Equal author contributions. Names appear in alphabetical order.​

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  • Marr, J.C., Lemay, E., & Park, H. Conflicted after status loss: How perceived coworker support exacerbates the effect of status loss on disengagement. [In preparation for submission.]
    * Winner of 2022 Academy of Management Best Empirical or Theoretical Paper Award (CM Division)

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