“Don’t ever live vicariously. This is your life. Live.”
Lavinia Spalding
Share.Learn.Inspire.Transform
“Don’t ever live vicariously. This is your life. Live.”
Lavinia Spalding
As user-generated online reviews have recently gained more popularity, online reviews as word-of-mouth communication play a crucial role in affecting the product/service selection of consumers as well as the financial results and new product/service development of, which results in unexpected incentives to generate fake reviews.
Fake online review is considered one of the most serious online deviant behaviors, since fake reviews not only mislead individuals to make misinformed decisions but also reduce the credibility and value of online reviews themselves. In order to contribute to the literature on online deviant behaviors and improve extant fake review detection algorithms, the present study aims to (1) identify the four linguistic (i.e., affective, cognitive, social, and perceptual) cues related to a reviewer’s psychological processes embedded in online reviews for restaurants and examine their relationships with the fake reviews identified on Yelp.com and (2) investigate the question of whether time distance and reviewer’s location are related to the occurrence of fake online reviews.
This study is one of the first attempts to investigate the relationship between psychological cues and fake online reviews as well as the impact of time distance and reviewer location on these reviews in a comprehensive manner.
The results of logistic regression analysis of 43,496 reviews from Yelp.com suggest that affective, social, and perceptual cues are significantly related to fake reviews with the presence of the significant effects of time distance and reviewer location. Further, the results of post-hoc analysis confirm that the effect of photos on fake reviews is limited.
The result of our study can provide practitioners with implications on how to better identify fake reviews in online hospitality and tourism platforms with the linguistic cues proposed in this study on top of fake review detection factors currently in use and ultimately provide more valid and trustworthy user-generated content regarding restaurants and places to visit.
Kyung Young Lee, PhD, MBA
PhD in Management
Associate Professor,
Department Coordinator of Technology, Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (TIME)
Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University
Professor Lee’s research interests include electronic word of mouth (eWOM), smart applications, smart tourism and corporate use of social media. His work contributes to the academic literature on the impact of eWOM on consumers’ behaviours, the impact of smart applications on organizational performance and the role of smart devices in the tourism industry.
“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”
Matsuo Basho
“While social technology allows people to work from anywhere, managers should be aware of cultural change that can occur in removing traditional face-to-face meetings and shared office spaces. While communicating over e-mail or SMS can be useful in some contexts, research indicates that face-to-face communication remains critical for efficient communication in businesses.”
Devin Drover MBA/JD
Over the last two decades, the Internet has given rise to the development of new social technologies that have had a significant influence on how people obtain and share information. These technologies – like social media applications Facebook and Twitter, or instant-messaging platforms Slack and WhatsApp – have redesigned ordinary practices of organizational communication in both formal and informal ways. Now, due to on-going COVID-19 pandemic, more and more organizations are moving to remote working environments, and relying more on these social technologies on a day-to-day basis. As a result, managers should be aware of the implications that relying more on these technologies will impact all elements of their organization.
One area that managers should be especially aware of as they adapt to new social technology and remote-working is expected changes in organizational culture. With this growth in technological capability, including ubiquitous access to workplace activities through the Internet, both executives and employees will be challenged to change the way they interact with each other and adapt to the technologies that enable their work.
Workplace Expectations
Past research indicates that one area of workplace culture that has been impacted significantly by the use of social technology is workplace expectations. Social media use in crisis management and strategic communications, for example, has often created expectations that employees have to work extended work hours and deal with an increased workload beyond what would have traditionally had. These unintended effects correlated with a high-level of time-based and strain-based work-life conflict that can cause ripple effects across an organization. Similarly, employees working remotely through social technology. struggle with additional expectations of always being “on”, which can cause burn out and lead an organization to have retention problems.
Managers whose organizations have switched to remote working with a heavy reliance on social technology during COVID-19 should be certain to manage workplace expectations during this change. What expectations are set about responding to correspondence after business hours, or on weekends? Are team-members confined to normal office hours, or is there an additional level of flexibility offered? Have important due dates or timelines been shifted due to the crisis? Questions like these should be answered and communicated across the workplace to ensure organizational alignment and protect from burn-out and workplace conflict.
Importance of Face-to-Face Meetings
While social technology allows people to work from anywhere, managers should be aware of cultural change that can occur in removing traditional face-to-face meetings and shared office spaces. While communicating over e-mail or SMS can be useful in some contexts, research indicates that face-to-face communication remains critical for efficient communication in businesses. Physical proximity plays into all of our senses, allowing for a richer recognition of verbal and non-verbal cues such as tone of voice and body gestures respectively. Similarly, face-to-face communication allows for information to be received instantaneously, and can expediate decision-making as a result.
In lieu of the ability to be together physically, managers should be diligent in ensuring face-to-face meetings continue to occur by utilizing video conferencing software. While many groan at the thought of additional meetings, and often celebrate when they are cancelled, ensuring routine video meetings can help overcome unwanted change in the organization culture and decision-making.
Managing Loneliness
Lastly, it is important that managers be attentive to how employees are responding to the challenges of self-isolation and social distancing. Personal troubles, including risks to one’s health and wellness, can inevitably impact one’s ability to work efficiently, and a change in productivity can snowball into negative consequences across an entire organization.
Social distancing requirements exacerbates existing problems of loneliness and social isolation that exists in Canadian society; in fact, a 2019 study from the Angus Reid Institute indicates that nearly half of Canadians are either “very lonely” or “somewhat lonely” on a routine basis. It is well documented that loneliness, especially when continuous, can have severe effects on an individual’s physical and mental health. And, now with remote-working, informal communication processes within an organization – like small-talk between meetings and lunch-outings – will clearly be impacted.
Managers should be attentive to these challenges and may want to offer alternative, digital social gatherings or activities to replicate informal office communication channels. Digital happy-hours or coffee breaks may help team-members retain a sense of community in the midst of these strange, unprecedented times – and strengthen the organization as a result.
Devin Drover is a Canadian writer with an interest in communication theory, and social policy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Memorial University, and most recently completed his MBA/JD from Dalhousie University to be awarded May 2020. You can connect with Devin on Twitter and LinkedIn:
http://www.twitter.com/devindrover
https://www.linkedin.com/in/devindrover/
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Dr. James Barker for introducing Devin Drover to CEGE Connection. We are thrilled to publish Devin’s research paper and advise that he has agreed to be a repeat contributor on CEGE Connection.
“Gardens are a form of autobiography.”
Sydney Eddison, Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older
Republished from Dalhousie University Alumni Posted: February 10, 2020
Erin Flaim is a passionate professional with over 25 years of connecting with and supporting people during times of change. She is a member of the Association of Change Management Professionals and holds Prosci® change management certification, a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and a certificate in advanced facilitation.
Degrees: BSc Recreation ’93, MPA(M) ’08
Current position: Senior Consultant and Change Management Practice Lead, Pivot Consulting Inc.
Tell us about your career so far
Since my first job as a summer student working in recreation, I have been dedicated to public service. My career has provided the opportunity to work in a variety of leadership roles in areas such as asset management, transportation and public works, public transit, corporate services and IT.
I have worked extensively in complex, frontline service areas of municipal government and in various emergency response situations, leading organizational change. When I left formal public service I had an instrumental role on the team establishing the municipality’s Performance Excellence office. Guiding organizations and individuals through complex change is my passion.
Tell us about your current job and how you got there
In 2018, I joined Pivot Consulting, a professional business consulting and digital transformation services firm, as a Senior Consultant leading the firm’s change management practice. I moved into consulting to make a difference doing the work I love. I chose Pivot because its culture and values matched mine.
I work specifically in the discipline of change management. It is what I love to do and every day I bring my skills and experience to guide, coach and support transformative change within organizations.
What part of your job are you the most passionate about?
People. Being able to support them through complex change is highly rewarding. I form genuine and lasting connections with my clients because I am able to demonstrate my passion and expertise in a way that is meaningful to them. The most rewarding part of my job is seeing people I work with embrace the change through open hearts, honest conversations and awareness of their impact.
What has MPA meant to your career?
I believe so strongly in public service and this degree was a match I knew would allow me to leverage my skillsets even further. Studying while working was highly beneficial as I was able to apply theory to actual practice. I have held senior leadership positions and found my passion as a result. The added benefit is the large network of individuals you develop and maintain contact with.
Any advice for future MPA students?
Take advantage of every experience you can and don’t limit yourself. The MPA program introduces you to many areas of study you will use throughout your career and is translatable to so many different areas, including in volunteer work. I believe strongly in supporting mental health services and, through the skills acquired from the program, I give back to my community through volunteer work with the Canadian Mental Health Association Halifax Dartmouth Branch.
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”
André Gide
“Change management in the workplace is the leading factor in supporting people through adoption and engagement while change occurs and is undertaken. Change management is a set of steps that are followed on a particular project or initiative. It really is a three-pronged approach: people need to understand the change, buy into the change, and then have the change reinforced to actually change behaviour.”
Maria Artuso MBA(FS) 2015, Community Manager at RBC Royal Bank
Managing through change has become the new norm. As a leader, it is important to understand a number of parameters, including why change is occurring at such an extreme pace, how individuals feel about the change and how they cope with the change. Change at this point is inevitable. Gone are the days where we reminisce about how things were done years ago. Some individuals thrive in an agile environment, where change can be viewed as exhilarating and super exciting, and personally challenging. Others struggle with the reality that the constant is change, not being able to stay put, and always needing to reinvent themselves and learn new things.
I have been working in the financial services industry for the past 21 years, and have had the privilege of working with leaders who have been phenomenal in terms of working through change, and being respectful of how people will adapt, endure, and overcome the constant of change. When I first started in the industry, I was in my late teens and found it very interesting how some colleagues would say “this is the way we do it here”; “we’ve done it like this for years”; “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”. I remember being taken aback at how it felt to be working within an inflexible and policy-stricken working environment.
In school and at home, my generation was encouraged to “shoot for the stars”; “you can be whatever you put your mind to”; “don’t ever settle for second best”. What I was learning in school and experiencing at work was quite different. What I did not realize or really endorse at the time was that while change management is not an easy philosophy, it is a critical component of organizational transformation. How employees respond to change, let alone, how they overcome this new norm, is vitally important to the viability and sustainability of an organization’s success. Both the leader and employee play extremely important roles.
As I continued to work in the banking industry, and furthered my education, it became clearer to me that how people felt within the working world was very different than in the educational system. I began to think about how great the workplace could be and would be if we continued to push the envelope, consider everyone’s thoughts and opinions vs. just those of the loudest contributors. We could never rest on our laurels.
Change management in the workplace is the leading factor in supporting people through adoption and engagement while change occurs and is undertaken. Change management is a set of steps that are followed on a particular project or initiative. It really is a three-pronged approach: people need to understand the change, buy into the change, and then have the change reinforced to change behaviour. Change management matters. It needs to occur one person at a time. Change can be very costly if managed improperly. The good news is that effective management of change increases success overall.
As a new leader, I learned about ADKAR, a model used to understand how people process change: Awareness of the need for change, Desire to participate in and support the change, Knowledge on how to change, Ability to implement required skills and behaviours, and Reinforcement to sustain the change. The truth is, leading employees through organizational change, whether big or small, requires empathy, trust, care, and a growth mindset in order to move forward. Organizations cannot change their culture unless individual employees change their behavior—and changing behavior is not easy; it is actually hard.
Sometimes a leader’s admission of vulnerability helps others recognize and address their ability to process change. You cannot force people to change – you can only help them want to. It is so important for people to understand the why behind the change, the impact it will have on them, and what’s important them. It is vital to acknowledge that there are opportunities for individuals to provide input and feedback. This will empower individuals to buy-in and feel good about their contribution to the change. In so doing, leaders generate a winning culture by engaging and exciting the people responsible for delivering change. It is important to celebrate successes and quick wins and generously and publicly acknowledge those who demonstrate the leadership behaviours that make a strategy succeed. Asking team members to share their experiences will encourage the growth mindset required to ensure that change continues to take place at a pace that is commendable in our organizations.
I truly believe that the behaviours of change of management will allow us to never be stuck in old ways. Instead, it will create a flexible and agile collaborative team capable of pivoting in a timely manner, generating the environment where great things will happen because we allowed ourselves to try something new.
Maria Artuso MBA(FS) 2015, Community Manager at RBC Royal Bank, was recently named one of Ottawa’s Top 40 under 40 business professionals. A successful, highly motivated business leader with a track record of success in the fields of operational effectiveness, retail banking, commercial banking, and leadership, Maria is dedicated to giving back to her community, believing that her volunteerism enhances her job performance and life experiences. Maria has graciously agreed to be a repeat contributor on CEGE Connection.
“Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.”
Albert Schweitzer