Biography
Karen Sedatole completed her PhD in business administration at the University of Michigan in 2000. Prior to joining the Emory faculty, Sedatole was the Russell E. Palmer Endowed Professor of Accounting at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the design and effectiveness of performance measurement and reward systems, the role of forecasting and budgetary systems within organizations, and control in interorganizational collaborations. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals, including Management Science, Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Management Accounting Research, and Accounting, Organizations, & Society. Sedatole is a two-time recipient of the American Accounting Association Notable Contributions to Management Accounting Research Award and previously served as senior editor of the Journal of Management Accounting Research.
Education
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PhDUniversity of Michigan2000
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MBAUniversity of Texas at Austin1989
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BSBaylor University1987
Media Appearances
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June 13, 2018HR Dive,Calibration committees can correct performance evaluation scores inflated or deflated by a manager's bias or inconsistent standards, according to a study published by Harvard Business Review. The report examined a multinational organization's use of calibration committees over three years and found that they refined the consistency of the evaluation process, but decreased the variation of the ratings, which complicated the identification of high and low performers.
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May 1, 2018Bert Martinez's showsKaren Sedatole is a Professor of Accounting at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Along with accounting research colleagues from the College of William and Mary and the University of Missouri, she has conducted one of the first studies on the use of performance evaluation “calibration committees.” The study Karen is going to tell us about focuses on how to improve the measurement of performance.
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April 28, 2018Lenz MarketiingIt’s easy to simply describe accounting as a numbers game, but it’s much more than that. In fact, it’s a multifaceted discipline and one that this week’s guest researches for a living. How does accounting play a role in business forecasting and performance reviews? Award-winning researcher Karen Sedatole answers these and other questions.
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April 16, 2018Human Resource ExecutiveIt’s long been known that supervisors often apply different standards during employee evaluations and that personal biases can often slip into the process. However, there is now empirical evidence that calibration committees—which serve to adjust employee ratings assigned by supervisors—are an effective approach to help ensure consistency and fairness across performance ratings, according to a three-year academic study.
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April 2, 2018Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRating the performance of employees can be one of a supervisor’s least favorite tasks. Often times supervisors give better reviews than employees deserve because they want to be liked, play favorites or worry that unfavorable reviews will reflect poorly on their own performance. The reviews are even more complicated when the criteria are subjective — does a person work well with a team or think through complex issues? — rather than objective, like how many widgets does the employee produce each week.
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May 1, 2016Journal of AccountancyEconomists once assumed that the new intercompany partnerships of the 1980s and 1990s would give way to mergers and joint ventures. Yet many services and goods today are delivered not by monolithic firms but by sets of companies that bridge sectors and continents. Businesses small and large are relying on networks of allies to reach new markets and capital, creating relationships that are lasting longer than anyone expected. In response, a team of researchers from four universities in the United States and Amsterdam has examined how firms are measuring and controlling risk in this complex new world.
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February 2, 2012CFO.comFord, General Motors, and Chrysler used “absorption costing” to make themselves look more profitable, researchers say. But the practice can be costly, and other companies may want to think twice before they follow suit.
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June 25, 2012Incentive MagazineA new study finds that the promise of an incentive or bonus for a particular performance is not only more likely to create a trusting workplace, but to boost employee performance even in areas that are not being incentivized.
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June 22, 2012FOXBusinessThe carrot, not the stick, is what that drives productivity in the workplace, according to new research. The study by Michigan State University associate professor of accounting Karen Sedatole revealed that the promise of a reward motivates employees Opens a New Window. more than the threat of a penalty.
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May 1, 2019WorldatWork/Workspan Research in BriefNew survey data suggests that companies might want to reconsider their performance evaluation practices. According to WorldatWork’s “Contemporary Performance Evaluation Practices Survey,” conducted in collaboration with a team of researchers led by Jasmijn Bol, Ph.D., of Tulane University, only 47% of responding organizations are satisfied with their performance evaluation processes.
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May 22, 2019WorldatWork/Workspan DailyDeploying calibration committees is an effective way to mitigate bias in performance assessments. This is one of several substantive findings in “Contemporary Performance Evaluation Practices Survey,” conducted by WorldatWork in partnership with researchers at Tulane University, that sheds light on the current state of performance evaluation processes. The 254 compensation professionals surveyed are WorldatWork members who primarily work for companies with revenues greater than $100 million.
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July 1, 2019WorldatWork/Workspan Research in BriefNearly half of respondents (48%) in WorldatWork’s “Contemporary Performance Evaluation Practices Survey” use alternative raters in their performance evaluation systems.
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November 27, 2019IEDP Developing LeadersIn a modern workplace no longer characterized by rigid hierarchies and where power is more diffused, traditional methods of motivation may no longer be enough. We have come to understand the value of providing people with ‘intrinsic motivation’ – a sense of purpose, the importance of creative, interesting work, and maintaining work-life balance. We have naturally moved away from a sole dependence on monetary incentives. However, in a New York Times opinion piece, management author Alfie Kohn asserts that “science has confirmed” that monetary rewards amount to “bribes” that don’t work. Somehow this doesn’t ring true. Has science really confirmed this? Would businesses continue to incentivize performance with monetary rewards if they did not work? And aren’t we all, at least to some extent, motivated by money?
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December 19, 2019CFO DiveCFOs can improve the accuracy of their sales estimates — and, ultimately, earnings forecasts — by supplementing statistical modeling with the human-judgment side of forecasting, Karen Sedatole, an accounting
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Sedatole, K. 2019. Irrational but Predictable! When to Use Monetary Incentives to Motivate Employees
February 13, 2019Ivy Exec WebinarKohn boldly proclaims “science has confirmed” that monetary rewards amount to “bribes” that don’t work. If that’s true, why do virtually all modern business organizations provide employees monetary incentives for performance? It turns out that the truth about the effectiveness of monetary rewards in business settings is more nuanced than Kohn suggests.